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I /W/twCl/VVUi W^HTt-uG-oiL iLi->-tJ<i 



HISTORY OF GERMANY 



JUNIOR CLASSES. 



SUTHERLAND MENZIES, 

AUTHOR OF "history OF PRANCE." 

;HI^ €olaux&'!3 pap anh lUuslrations. 




NEW YORK: 
GEORGE P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 

182 FIFTH AVENUE. 



PEEEACE. 



The Empire of Germany is a gigantic figure in tlie 
retrospect of History; and, in tracing a rapid outline of 
the salient events occurring in its extended annals, to- 
gether with the earlier records belonging to the Teutonic 
race, as well as brief notices of the lives and characters 
of its most famous personages, the difficulty with which 
the author has had to contend was to avoid the obscu- 
rity often incidental to conciseness. In this History, 
therefore, he has endeavoured to obviate such result as 
far as possible by a careful registration of dates, and by 
division of the several periods into short paragraphs, 
with the headings of their several subjects given in larger 
type than that of the text. 

By adopting such plan, it is earnestly hoped that both 
teacher and pupil will be enabled to grasp and retain 
with greater facility any given period of German history 
required to be entered upon in the course of their 
scholastic reading. 

Sutherland Menzies. 
Aivil, 1S73. 



CONTENTS 



Inteoduction, . . . . 

Primitive Populations, , .... 9 

FIRST PEPJOD. 

Prom the most Ancient Times to tlie Conquests of the 

Franks under Clovis (486 a.d.), . . . 13 

SECOND PERIOD, 
From the Conquests of Clovis to Charlemagne (511-768), SB 

THIRD PERIOD. 
From Charlemagne to Henry I. (7G8-919), . . 53 

FOURTH PERIOD. 

From Henry I. to Rodolphus of Hapshurg [The Saxon 

Siuahian, and Holienstcmfcn Houses). — 919-1273, . 73 

FIFTH PERIOD. 

From Rodolph I. of Hapshurg to Charles V. {Eiiiferors 

of different Houses).— WZ-\b20, . . . 14-7 

SIXTH PERIOD. 
From Charles V. to the Peace of Westphalia (1519-1648), £04 



SEVENTH PEEIOD. 

From the Pccace of Westphalia to the French Revolution 

(1648-1789), . . . . " . .245 



EIGHTH PERIOD. 

From the French Revolution to the Peace of Paris 

(1789-1815), ...... 264 



NINTH PERIOD. 

From the Peace of Paris to the Franco-Prussian "War 

(1815-1870-71), . . . ,202 



GEEMAiif Progress in Literature, Art, and Science, . 314 
Index, ....... 332 



HISTORY OF GERMANY. 



INTRODUCTIOK' 

.PRIMITIVE POPULATIONS. 

Almayne, tlie ancient Germany, took its name from one 
of its most warlike tribes, the Alamanni, or Allemanm 
(all sorts of men). Germany, the name now given to the 
whole country, is most generally supposed to be Roman, 
though the woi-d, by some, is thought to be derived from 
a Teutonic word which signifies " warlike." * Its ancient 
limits were probably not very different from those of the 
country which still bears that appellation. It is bounded 
on the east by Hungary and Poland, on the north by 
the Baltic Sea and Denmark, on the west by France and 
the Netherlands, and on the south by the Alps, Switzer- 
land, Italy, the Adriatic, and Dalmatia. 

Germany, according to the description of the Romans, 
was, at the time they first became acquainted with it, a 
rude and inhospitable land, full of immense forests, 
marshes, and desert tracts. The great Hercynian forest, 
by Csesar's account, extended from the Alps over a space 
that in its length occupied sixty, and in its width nine 
days' journey; consequently, all the chief mountain chains 

* Most probably from the word ger, spear or lance, and the 
word man — the man, the lord or chief : therefore a warlike title 
of honour which distinguished the manliness and valour of the 
nation. "War and hunting were their constant occupation; so 
much so, that lance and man were as synonymous as spindle and 



10 HISTORY OF GEKMANY. 

and forests of the present Germany must be tlie remnants 
of that stupendous wooded range. 

Ancient authors mention several German tribes, as 
well as their dwelling places, with greater or less precision. 
Several of them also sjDeak of the chief tribes, among 
which the single septs united themselves. But their 
statements are not sufficient!}^ unanimous or precise to 
give us that clear view Avhich we would so willingly 
obtain. The origin of the Germanic nations, therefore, 
like that of all others, is uncertain. To assign to them a 
distinct historical origin is to make an assertion without 
evidence, though it is now indisj)utably established that 
the Teutonic dialects belong to one great family with the 
Latin, the Greek, the Sanscrit, and other European and 
Asiatic tongues. All the positive knowledge that we 
have of the German nations, previous to their contact 
with the Romans, is exceedingly vague and mere conjec- 
ture. 

The nations forming the Suevic race, as C?esar and 
Tacitus describe them, dwelt in the large semi-circle 
traced by the upper and middle Rhine and the Danube, 
through the middle of Germany, and farther towai'ds the 
north to the East Sea, so that they occupied the country 
of the ISTecker, the Maine, the Saale, and then the right 
Elbe bank of the Havel, Spree, and Oder. Tacitus even 
places Suevic tribes beyond the Yistula, as well, in the 
interior, as on the coasts of the Baltic, and beyond it in 
Sweden. Grovmds of probability admit, indeed, of our 
placing a thii'd, the Gothic-Vandal tribe, between the 
Oder and the Vistula, and along the latter stream; but 
as distinct information is wanting, we can but allude to 
it. The Suevi, as Caesar informs us, had early formed 
themselves into one large union, whose principles were 
distinctly warlike. The love of arms was assiduously 
cherished in all, that they might be ever ready for any 
undertaking. Thence it was that individuals had no 
fixed landed possessions; but the ju-inces and leaders 
yearly divided the land among the families just as it 
pleased them; and none were allowed even to select the 



INTRODUCTION. 1 1 

same pastures for two consecutive years, but were forced 
to exchange with each other, that neither might accustom 
himself to the ground, and, acquiring an attachment to 
his dwelling-place, be thus induced to exchange the love 
of war for agriculture. They were afraid that, if an 
individual were permitted to acquire an extensive tract, 
the powerful might chase away the poor, build large and 
imposing dwellings, and that the lust of wealth might 
give rise to factions and divisions. Besides which, they 
were obliged, from each of their hundred distiicts, to 
supply the wars Avith a thousand men yearly, and those 
who remained at home cultivated the land for all. The 
following year, on the other hand, the latter marched 
inider arms, and the former remained at home, so that 
agriculture as well as the art of war were in constant 
exercise. 

In these, although rude j^rinciples of the Suevic rmion, 
a great idea manifests itself, and proves that the ancient 
Germans, about the period of the birth of Christ, were 
by no means to be reckoned among the savage tribes. 

The territory of the Suevi, a single Gennan nation, 
was divided into one hundred districts, and could bring 
two hundred thousand warriors into the field. Agricul- 
tural labour was usually performed by slaves. They 
kept bees, and made mead of the honey; and besides 
corn, they raised oats and barley, from which they made 
ale, their favourite beverage. 

The Germans were noted for their love of feasting, 
which was carried to such excess that they would some- 
times remain whole days and nights at table, drinking 
and gaming, in consequence of which they very often 
quarreled and fought, so that a convivial meeting fre- 
quently terminated in bloodshed. They gambled with 
dice, as Tacitus, with astonishment, informs us, iia a sober 
state, and as a serious occupation, and with so much 
eagerness for gain, that when they had lost their all, they 
hazarded their freedom, and even their very persons, upon 
the last cast. The loser freely delivered himself uj) to 
slavery, although even younger and stronger than his 



12 HISTORY OP GERMANY. 

adversary, and patiently allowed himself to be bound and 
sold as a slave; thus steadfastly did they keep theii' word, 
even in a bad case. " They call this good faith," says the 
Roman writer. There were various circumstances under 
which a Gei-man might forfeit his liberty, such as marry- 
ing a bondwoman, or of not being able to pay his debts; 
but the genei'ality of the slaves were captives taken in 
war. 

The Germans did not all sit down at the same table, 
but each man had his own seat and board, which were of 
a very rough description, being merely a wooden stool 
and table, furnished with drinking horns, wooden bowls, 
spoons, and platters. Each person of rank had his ser- 
vant behind him to hold his shield and spear. He kept 
his sword by his side, for on no occasion would a German 
part with his arms, which was a proof that he expected 
fco have frequent need of them. 

The wives and daughters of the Germans, we are told, 
shared in all the public entertainments, for however rude 
and fierce these people might be in other respects, they 
were distinguished, even in the most barbai'ous ages, for 
their attention and respect to the female sex, whom the)' 
consulted on the most important affairs, and by whose 
ojDinions they were very often guided. The feasts of the 
Germans, like those of the Gauls and Scandinavians, 
were always attended by a number of bards, several of 
whom were attached to the family of every chief, and 
were treated with the highest respect. They played on 
the harp and flute, and when they sang of war, the 
company took pai-t in the concert by clashing their swords 
against their shields. 

The Germans, in very remote ages, were dressed in 
skins of wild animals, and afterwards in a coarse kind of 
linen, made by the women; but as they intermixed more 
with the Gauls, they learnt from them to make a finer 
sort of linen, and woollen also, and as soon as they were 
acquainted with these useful arts, spinning and weaving 
became the principal occupations of German women, and 
a more civilised costume was adopted than that which was 



INTRODUCTION. 1 3 

made from tlie skins of the elk and reindeer. These 
animals, in the time of Julius Caesar, were very numerous 
in the forests of Germany, from which, however, they 
have long since disappeared. 

The Romans justly considered the German nation as 
an aboriginal, pure, and unmixed race of people. They 
resembled themselves alone; and like the specifically 
similar plants of the field, which, springing from a pure 
seed, not raised in the hotbed of a garden, but germinat- 
ing in the healthy, free, unsheltered soil, do not differ 
from each other by varieties; so also, among the thousands 
of the simple German race, there was but one determined 
and equal form of body. Their chest was wide and 
strong; their hair yellow, and with young children it was 
of a dazzling white. Their skin was also white, their 
eyes bkie, and their glance bold and piei'cing. Their 
powei'ful gigantic bodies, which the Romans and Gauls 
could not behold without fear, displayed the strength 
that nature had given to this people; for, according to the 
testimony of some of the ancient writers, their usual 
height was seven feet. From their earliest youth upwards 
they hardened their bodies by all devisable means. New- 
bom infants were dipped in cold water, and the cold bath 
was continued during their whole lives as the strengthen- 
ing renovator, by both boys and girls, men and women. 
The children ran about almost naked, and efieminate 
nations wondered how those of the Germans, without 
cradles or swaddling bands, should grow up to the very 
fullest bloom of health. 

Csesar, Tacitus, and Suetonius, with many others, have 
poitited to one and the same characteristic of the Germans, 
as the secret of their power and prosperity. The Kelt 
had everywhere yielded to the eagles of Rome, while the 
Teuton everywhere checked their flight. Amazed, and 
even alarmed, at those tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed enemies, 
who had to be conquered with gold instead of steel, 
Tacitus examines the reasons of their prowess, and finds 
it in the soberness of their blood, in their reverence for 
women and for the laws of nature^ in their deference to 



14 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

parental authority, and their marriages of maturity. 
"Chastity is a custom with them," says the "De Moribus 
Germanorum;" and a passage to the same effect might be 
cited from Csesar. Those southern soldiers and statesmen 
saw, in truth, with a terrible sense of over-hanging fate, 
that race of hardy, chaste, home-loving, free, and fearless 
barbarians, of whom Titus the emperor said, " Their 
bodies are great, but their souls are greater." It has 
been well written about this same treatise, the " De 
Moribus:" The tone of Tacitus is that of a man who 
bitterly feels how much greater, after all, as a moral 
being, the barbarian may be than the civilised man, 
when civilization recognises no higher aim than material 
splendour, and that utility which subserves material 
wants. Other civilizations than that of the Empii'e may 
read a lesson in those brief pages where the philosopher 
of a worn-oxit world records his impression of the races 
from which that world was hereafter to be reconstituted. 

These, then, were the grand old Teutonic beginnings, 
the qualities and habits which rendered the Alemanni so 
strong. 

Religion of the Ancient Germans.— Although the 
Burgundians, Lombards, and Franks had embraced Chris- 
tianity two hundred years before the other tribes, the 
greater part of Germany seems to have continiied in 
heathen darkness until the eighth century, when mission- 
aries from the Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
left their own shores to preach the Gospel of Cluist in. 
the forests of their ancient fatherland. The worship ot 
the ancient Germans coincided with their natural character, 
and consequently was much more simple and elevated 
than that of other peoples. Although uncultivated, they 
carried in their hearts the sentiment of an infinite and 
eternal power, and they regarded it as an aflfront to the 
Divinity to enclose it within walls, or to represent it 
luider human foi"m. They consecrated to it the woods 
and forests as a spacious temple of which nature itself 
erected the pillars, and to which the immensity of the 
heavens formed the roof. ' 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

The ancient Germans adored, like the Persians, the 
sun and fire, but they regarded "VVodan as their supreme 
god. They called him also Alvater, father of all things. 
Their most beneficent goddess was the mother of the 
earth (Hertha). The Germans attached great importance 
to divinations and prognostics. The crow and the owl 
signified misfortune; the cuckoo annoiinced long life. 
They discovered the future by means of the branches of 
fruit trees [runes). Various signs were cut upon each 
rod, and afterwards the rods were thrown upon a white 
cloth; then the priest, or father of the fandly, ofiered up 
a prayer to the divinity, and thrice chose from among the 
rods those which were to give the divine revelations. 
The clairvoyants were held in high estimation, and 
history has preserved some of the names of those to which 
the belief of the people had given a great influence over 
the decision of public afiairs. Tacitus names Aurinia 
(probably Abruna), as deeply versed in the mysteries of 
runic rods ; the celebrated Weleda, who, from the summit 
of a tower ujjon the banks of the Lippe, governed the 
people of the Lower Rhine; and a certain Gauna of the 
time of Domitian. In the expedition of the Cimbri, 
and in the army of Ariovistus, there were also female 
prophets. 



FIRST PERIOD. 

FROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES TO THE CONQUESTS OP THE 
FRANKS UNDER CLOVIS. 486 A.D. 

The early liistory of tlie Germans, like that of all nations 
who had no written records, is involved in much obscurity. 
The first accurate knowledge of their transactions was 
that of the invasion of the country by the Gauls, com- 
manded by Segovesus, king of the Keltae ; whilst his 
brother Bellovesus marched with another army into Italy, 
Segovesus crossed the Rhine, and gained a settlement 
near the Hercynian Forest. The Germans, however, 
soon acted on the offensive, and expelled the Gauls, 
and, by the assistance of the Belgse, one of their most 
warlike tribes, gained possession of some territory to the 
west of the Rhine, where they were enabled to fix and 
maintain themselves so firmly as never to be driven out, 
and whence they extended themselves to the. sea-coasts 
of Britain, and even drove its inhabitants into the interior. 
The Germans and Gauls, thus brought into contact with 
ea'ch other, continued to hold vaccillating intercourse, 
sometimes at war, at other times in alliance in opposition 
to the power of the conquering and disciplined Romans. 
The Germans, tinder the name of Cimbri, then invaded 
the territory of Rome, and spread such terror, that Marius, 
by a deviation from the law, was appointed consul, to 
command an army against them. After various marches 
during some years, in 102 B.C. Marius with an army of 
52,000 men, attacked the barbarians on the banks of 
the Rhone, and though they are said to have mustered 
300,000 foot and 15,000 horse, completely defeated them, 
with a loss of 150,000 killed and 60,000 prisoners. Many 
preferring death to slavery, underwent military execution, 



FROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES. 17 

and a few were scattered over Gaul, or crossed the Danube 
and so escaped to their own country. 

A peace ensued between the Romans and Germans 
which lasted until Julius Csesar, having completed the 
subjugation of Gaul and extended his conquests to the 
Ehine, first became acquainted with the German name. 
The name of Germani was first aj^plied by Csesar to 
the whole nation east of the Ehine, though it properly 
belonged only to those tribes which he conqtiered in Gaul. 
Ariovistus, the leader of a tribe that dwelt to the south 
of the Danube, attempted to fix his establishment in 
Gaul, but was defeated by Caesar, and, with the loss of 
80,000 men, driven across the Rhine. Csesar built a 
bridge over, and twice passed that river at the head of 
his army, not with the view of permanent conquest, but 
to secure his province of Gaul against the attacks of the 
barbarians. The civil wars, which first occupied Csesar 
and Pompey, and afterwards Mark Antony and Brutus 
and Cassius, left the Germans opportunities to attempt in- 
cursions. The confederation of the Segambri passed the 
Rhine, and having repelled the attacks of Agrippa, settled 
themselves on the western side of that river; but a few 
years afterwards they were defeated by Lollius, the legate 
of Augustus, when 14 years B.C., Drusus, the son-in-law 
of the emjieror, achieved a succession of victories which 
had placed nearly the whole of northern Germany at his 
mercy. His career, however, was cut short by a fall 
from his horse, which resulted in his death (8 B.C.). He 
was succeeded by Tiberius, who, during his command, 
not only sustained the power which Drusus had acquii-ed, 
but extended it towards the north; and, by intrigues 
among the natives, as much as by his force, induced 
many of the tribes to solicit peace, and excited others 
to enter into the military sei'vice of Rome. 

The great prosperity of the reign of Augustus was first 
interrupted by the rebellion of the Germans, which the 
extortions of QuintUius Varas provoked. The best legions 
of Rome were entrusted to his command, with the super- 
intendence of the teri'itories lying between the Rhine 



18 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

and Elbe, and the Alps and Danube, wliicli had been 
added by Drusus and Tiberius to tlie Roman dominions. 
Arminius (Herman), a young prince of the Catti, who was 
educated at Rome, and who had served in the Roman 
armies, united his countrymen in a secret confederacy; 
and then, pretending friendship to Varus, conducted him 
into the depths of the forest of Teutoburg (a.d. 9), where 
his troops could neither fight nor retreat. In this situa- 
tion, Arminius attacked the Romans, from whose camp 
he stole by night, and so harassed them that most of the 
"oificers slew themselves in despaii*. The legionaries, thus 
left without leaders, were cut to pieces; and thus the 
Romans I'eceived the greatest overthrow that they had 
suffered since the defeat of Crassus. When the news of 
this calamity was brovight to Rome, everybody expected 
that the Germans would immediately cross the Rhine, 
and advance against the city. Augustus, though ovei'- 
whelmed with sorrow, made every exertion to allay the 
general consternation: he sent his son-in-law and heii", 
Tiberius, to guard the Rhine; but he prohibited him 
from following the wild tribes to their fastnesses. For 
several months the emperor abandoned himself to tran- 
sports of grief, during which he frequently exclaimed, 
"Varus, Varus, restore me my legions!" and he observed 
the fatal day as a mournful solemnity until his death. 

In order to meet the more extensive incursions of the 
Germans, which wei'e now expected as certain, consequent 
vipon this victory, Tiberius was hastily despatched to the 
Rhine with a rapidly collected army; to his astonishment, 
however, he found everything quiet. The Gei-mans did 
not desii*e conquest, they wished only to protect their 
freedom, and according to the very nature of their alliance, 
after the danger was removed, each returned to his home. 
Tiberius held the vacillating Gaul in obedience, and 
passed again across the Rhine ; and, as in a few years 
afterwards he succeeded Augustus in the empii'e, he 
transferred to his nephew, GermanicU'S, the management 
of the war against the Germans. 

The news of the death of Augustus roused a mutiny 



FRO 51 THE HOST ANCIENT TIMES. 19 

among the legions in Pannonia, whicli was quelled by 
Driisus, the son of Tiberius. The armies on the Rhine 
under Germanicus showed a disposition to reject Tiberius,; 
and a mutinous spirit; and if Germanicus had been in-\ 
cliiied to try the fortunes of a campaign, he might have 
had the assistance of the German armies against his 
uncle. But Germanicus restored discipline to the army 
by his fii'mness, and maintained his fidelity to the new 
emperor. He made three campaigns against the Germans, 
defeated Arminius, and retook a Roman eagle from the 
Marses, which they had kept since the defeat of Varus. 
Recalled to Rome, Germanicus led back the greatest 
portion of his warriors by water, down the Ems to the 
North Sea. But a tremendous storm overtook his fleet, 
destroyed a multitude of his vessels, and dispersed them 
on the coasts of Britain. Thus did the German hero 
Arminius, equally great in victory or doubtful battle, 
behold his country freed from the danger of a foreign 
yoke. Henceforth, the Romans thought no more of 
subduing Germany, but applied themselves solely to the 
means of securing their frontiers from the incursions of 
the German tribes. 

The Germans were also prevented from making any 
serious attempts against the Romans by the internal wars 
which distracted them for many years. They again 
attacked the Roman Empire imder Domitian, Nerva, 
and Trajan; the last of whom entirely defeated them. 
From this time their attacks on the Roman empire became 
more frequent and more formidable, and their history 
becomes blended with that of the decline of the Roman 
empire, on the ruins of which they established several 
new states. These states, though often at war with each 
other, and differing in smaller matters, chiefly arising 
from difference of soil and climate, were imited in one 
similar system of policy and domestic government, and 
had those common habits strengthened by the providential 
introduction of the Christian i-eligion, to which, though 
vaiying in some points of faith, they all in process of time 
professed adherence. 



20 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

A series of emigrations which revohitionised Europe 
now began from the Frozen Ocean, extended themselves 
to the Atlantic Sea, and stretched over a portion of 
Northern Africa. They continued from the year 375, 
when the Huns first broke into Europe, till 568, when 
the Lombards had completed their conquest of the Eoman 
empire. 

When, in the year of our Loi'd 395, the Roman empire 
was divided between the two sons of Theodosius, Arcadius 
had the empire of the East, and reigned at Constantinople; 
Honorius that of the West, and reigned in Italy. The 
children of Theodosius were far from resembling their 
father : too indolent to exercise authority of themselves, 
they abandoned it to their chancellors, Rufinus and 
Stilicho, the one a Gaul, the other a Vandal. Rufinus at 
Constantinople was the declared enemy of Stilicho, who 
governed in Italy; and, to cause him embarrassment, he 
invited the young king of the Visigoths, Alai-ic, to quit 
the shores of the Danube and pass into Italy. Alaric 
did not march directly upon Italy, but deviated somewhat 
by shaping his course towards Greece, then defenceless, 
and despoiled it of the remains of its riches and the 
monuments of its grandeur. In that interval, Rufinus 
himself succumbed to the machinations of Stilicho; but 
for all that the Goths did not abandon their projects 
against Italy, and they passed the Alps in 402. Stilicho, 
however, succeeded in inducing them to re-cross the 
mountains, either by treating with them, or by opposing 
to them a resistance too formidable. He even saved 
Italy a second time in 405, when Radagaise, at the head 
of a powei'ful army of Germans, acting probably in concert 
with Alaric, threatened to pass the Alps at another 
point. The history of this period is so confused that it 
has not been clearly proved whether that mass of people 
was extei"minated at Fcesulce (Fiesoli), as some writers 
relate, or whether Stilicho had the address to divert them 
from their object by treaties, pointing to the not far 
distant Gaul as their prey. But that which remains 
incontestable is the fact that Stilicho was put to dea,th in 



FROM ^PIE MOST ANCIENT TIMES. 21 

408, the weak emperoi* having been persuaded that his 
minister had meditated placing the imperial crown on the 
head of his own son Eucharius. 

So soon as Alaric had learned the death of Stilicho, he 
returned to Italy, forced the passage of the Alps, crossed 
the Po, and marched straight upon Rome, leaving the 
feeble Honorius, whom he despised, shut up in Ravenna. 
At his summons to surrender, terror and confusion spread 
through "the eternal city," which, for 600 years, had 
never seen an enemy at its gates, nor for 800 years a foe 
within its walls. Even then the Romans addressed 
Alaric in terms charactex'istic of their ancient pride: 
"We are still numerous, and fear not war," said they, 
threateningly. To which Alaric, with a burst of derisive 
laughter, replied : " Come out then; the thicker the grass, 
the more easily it is mown." Upon this the Roman 
envoys sued for peace, but Alaric replied that the only 
conditions on which he wotdd spare the city were, that 
he should receive 5000 pounds weight of gold, 30,000 
pounds of silver, all the provisions, and all the slaves of 
German origin in the city. Seeing no hope of safety 
other than by su.bmitting to the will of the Gothic king, the 
Romans at length complied with his demands. Where- 
upon Alaric marched vipon Ravenna; but as Honorius 
would not come to any understanding with him, and the 
city proved impregnable, the latter returned to Rome, 
upon which he imposed anothei' emperor, named Attains, 
in opposition to Honorius. 

The new emperor, however, having shown himself little 
worthy of his position, Alaric returned a third time, a 
year afterwards, in order to hurl him into the dust from 
which he had drawn him, and took Rome by assault in 
the night of the 23rd of August 410. It was fortunate 
for the Romans that the Goths were Christians, for all 
those who sought an asylum in the churches were spared; 
and, contrary to the anticipations of the conquered, the 
victors acted with such moderation that they refrained 
from setting the city on fire. 

Alaric remained only six days in Rome, v.'il then set 



^^ HiSfOilY OP GERMANY. 

out for tte south of Italy with splendid projects in his 
mind, purposing to pass into Sicily, and thence attempt 
the conquest of Africa, then the granary of Italy, when 
death suddenly arrested him at Cosenza, in the thii'ty- 
second year of his age. All his people lamented his loss, 
and a tomb was prepared for him worthy of his memory. 
The waters of the river Butento were diverted from their 
channel; then a hole being dug in the middle of its bed, 
the Goths therein laid the body of theii' king full equipped, 
with his war-horse and the trophies of his glory; and 
afterwards brought back the stream to its wonted course, 
in order that the avarice of the Romans, and the hatred 
which they bore to his name, might not concur to pro- 
fane the tomb wherein the great Alaxic rested after his 
victories. 

The Gei'manic barbarians had long threatened the 
frontiers of Gaul, and at the commencement of the fifth 
century they rushed over them. On the 25th Dec. 406, 
the Suevi, Alains, Quades, Yandals, and Burgundians 
crossed the Rhine. Driven back, after two years of 
frightful ravages, towards the Pyrenees, they passed into 
Spain. The Burgundians alone remained in Gaul, where 
they founded, in the valley of the Saone, the kingdom of 
Burgundy (413). 

Tlie Visigoths, whom Alaric had brought from the 
banks of the Danube into Italy, were led, after the death 
of that daring warrior, by his brother-in-law, Ataulf, into 
southern Gaul. That barbarian chief, converting himself 
into a Roman as far as he could, set himself to repair the 
ruin heaped up on all sides by his countrymen, and was, 
by a treaty with Honorius, put in possession of Aquitaine. 
He married Placidia, the emperor's sister, overthrew 
two usurpers who had assumed the purple in Gaul, and 
began, to the profit of the empire, the conquest of "Spain 
over the Suevi and Alains. But he was assassinated at 
Barcelona (415), and his successor, Wallia, less disinte- 
rested, continued that war for his own advantage. The 
Visigoths, mastei's of Aquitaine as far as the Loire, and 
of the lai'gest portion of Spain, then possessed an empire 



FROJI THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES. 2^ 

wliicli seemed to i3romlse a long duration, and of wliicli 
Toulouse was the capital (419). 

Almost all the Germanic people sent forth millions of 
warriors eager for pillage and conquest; oi-, it might be, 
themselves harassed by the attacks of other races more 
powerful, they rose up in mass to seek out another 
countiy, sword in hand. The more feeble, those who 
could not, or would not, qi;it their native land, almost 
always I'emained alone, or foimd themselves confounded 
with the invading joeople. Thus, at the beginning of the 
fifth century, Europe was throughout overrun by the tide 
of barbarian migrations. 

Germany, therefore, prior to the Frank monarchy, 
exhibits a perpetual succession of vicissitudes. As we 
descend the sti-eam of time, from the invasion by Ctesar 
to the reign of Honoring, we find new nations, or at least 
new denominations of such, as previously existed; and 
the boundaries, or the location of each, to be ever chang- 
ing. At one time we read of a number of tribes located 
on the banks of the Elbe, or the Rhine, or of the Danube; 
in the I'e volution of two or three centuries, we perceive 
names totally different occupying the same regions. The 
location of these confederations at the opening of the 
fifth century must be understood, or little idea can be 
formed of the establishment of the Frank monarchy : — 
1. Between the mouths of the Elbe and the Meuse, along 
the sea coast, yet extending inwards towards the Rhine, 
were the Franhs — not perhaps the most nimierous, or the 
most formidable, but, beyond doubt, the most remarkable 
of the Germanic associations. Sometimes the enemies, 
more recently the allies of the empire, they were always 
treated with, consideration. 2. The Alamanni, a similar 
confederation of tribes, occupied the eastern bank of the 
Rhine. 3. In an obscure angle north, of the Elbe, com- 
prising chiefly the duchy of Bremen and part of Holstein, 
the Saxons, in the foiti'th century, appeared little formid- 
able to their neighboui's; yet in another we find them 
stretched considerably into the present kingdoms of 
Saxony and Hanover. They could not, however, be of 



24 blSTOilY OP GiEiRSUNt. 

that nation alone, who, in the fifth century, sufficed to 
conquer England; associated, or at least acting simultane- 
ously with them, were the Jutes, the Frisians, and other 
tiibes. This expatriation of so many thousand adven- 
turers did not much affect the amount of population left 
behind; for the extension of the Saxon frontier continued 
to be progressive until they bordered on the Franks and 
Swabians. 4. Along the southern coasts of the Baltic, 
comprehending the maritime tracts of Mecklenbui'g and 
Pomerania as far as the Oder, lay the Vandals. 5. East- 
ward still, to the banks of the Vistula, were the Goths, 
generally in alliance with the Yandals. Of this great 
stock were the Burgundians, who, as their name implies, 
dwelt in cities situated on the confines of Germany and 
Poland; the Heruli, who lay towards the Palus Mceotis; 
the Lombards, who occupied the region between the two, 
comprising the northern parts of Pannonia; and the 
Gepidce, who extended farther into that province. Such 
were the Tevitonic tribes, who, at the period in question, 
hovered on the Roman frontiers. 6. In the central 
parts of Germany, extending from the Mein to the Hartz 
forest, we perceive the Thuringians, evidently composed 
like the rest of several tribes belonging to the greai 
Teutonic family. 7. Besides these nations were some 
tribes of Sclavonic descent, inhabiting Monnia, Misnia, 
Bohemia, Lusatia, and part of Mecklenburg. Were these 
tribes the tributaries or the allies of the Teutonesl Were 
they now located in these regions for the first time, or 
had they long been here? These questions cannot be 
answered. One thing is certain, that, when in danger of 
being expelled by their neighbours, they invoked with 
success the succour of their Polish or Pannonian kindred. 
The changes effected in the location of these tribes by 
the invasion of the Roman empire, were in some respects 
greater, in others less, than we might have expected. On 
the one side, the Heruli and the Lombards penetrated 
into Italy ; the Suevi, the Alains, and the Vandals tra- 
versed Gaul and passed into Spain; the Burgundians 
settled in the eastern jDrovince of Gaul; the Franks 



PROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES. 25 

extended tliemselves from the Ehine, tlirongliout the 
Netherlands, to the frontiers of that monarchy. These 
changes enabled the Saxons, as we have before intimated, 
to extend themseh^es farther into the interior; and the 
Alamanni, who were joined by a considerable body of 
the Suevi, to spread themselves partially into Helvetia, 
Rhetia, and Yindelicia. From this period the united 
people are distinguished as Swabians; and the country 
now seized by the Boii became known as Bavaria. The 
Thuringians, by the movement of the Franks, extended 
their frontier to the east bank of the Rhine; but north 
of Cologne, that noble river was still possessed by the 
Franks. The subsequent departure of the Goths into 
Italy and Spain enabled the nations of Sclavonic descent 
to spread themselves farther into Brandenburg, Bohemia, 
and toAvards the Italian frontiers. 

The Yandals, who, with the Alains, had established 
themselves in the south of Spain, svimmoned to Africa by 
the Roman general, Boniface, who commanded there, and 
was burning to avenge himself on the emperor, passed 
over thither in 420, under the leadership of their king, 
Geiseric or Genseric, effected the conquest of all the 
northern coast, and founded a flourishing kingdom, which 
lasted for a century, of which Carthage was the capital. 
Such was the adventurous course of a people whom history 
first finds on the shores of the Baltic, and traces to the 
confines of the African deserts. 

Genseric, one of the most vigorous spirits of his time, 
but otherwise a true barbarian, reigned during 50 years 
- — from 428 to 477. After his death his empire fell into 
decadence, partly through intestine divisions, and partly 
through the enervation of its people, formerly so robust, 
caused by indulgence in voluptuous pleasures under that 
delicious climate. In 553, Justinian, emperor of Con- 
stantinople, sent Belisarius into Africa to profit by these 
circumstances; and the latter in eight months siibdued 
the Yandals, and brought their last king, Gelimer, loaded 
with chains, to grace his triumph at Constantinople. 

The Suevi who had remained in Spain, more and more 



2S HISTORY OF GERMANY 

harassed by the Visigoths imder Wallia and his successors, 
soon found themselves driven back to the north-west of 
Spain and of Portugal, and in the end confounded with 
that people, 585. It was also in the fifth century (449), 
that the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes landed in England 
and founded different kingdoms. Since the reign of 
Honorius the Romans had entirely abandoned Britain, 
finding themselves too feeble to protect an island so dis- 
tant; on the other hand, the Britons had become so 
effeminate under the Roman domination that, when left 
to themselves, they were incapable of defending their 
liberty. So that, continually tormented by the ravages 
of the Picts and Scots, their northern neighbours, they 
found no other means of ridding themselves of such 
enemies save by inviting the aid of foreigners. They 
therefore addressed themselves to the Saxons inhabiting 
the shores of the North Sea, whose valour they had more 
than once proved when their fleets had come to ravage 
the coasts of Britain. Two brothers, two heroes de- 
scended from Woden, Hengist and Horst (or Horsa), 
accepted the invitation of the Briton king, Vortigern, 
and embarked for England with three ships only, carrying 
in all 1600 warriors. But the valour of their arms made 
up for paucity of numbers; they defeated the Picts at 
Stamford, and were soon afterwards joined by a large 
force of their countrymen. The Britons would then have 
fain rid themselves of their protectors; the Saxons, on 
the contrary, desirous of settling in the country, subdued 
all England as far as the Welsh borders, and formed the 
seven kingdoms, known by the name of the Saxon 
Heptarchy, of which that of Kent, founded by Hengist, 
had the pre-eminence. 

From the time of Julius Caesar to the fall of the Roman 
empire, a period of more than 400 years, the greater part 
of the Germans were governed by Roman laws, and were 
kept in subjection by a militaiy force, but the wars 
never entirely ceased, and as the power of the Roman 
empire declined, the Germans gradually recovered their 
liberty, and became conquerors in their turn. 



i'ROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES. 27 

The proximity of the Romans on the Rhine, the 
Danube, and the Neckar, had by degrees effected altera- 
tions in the manners of the Germans. They had become 
acquainted with many new things, both good and bad. 
By means of the former they became acquainted with 
money, and even luxuries. The Romans had planted 
the vine on the Rhine, and constructed roads, cities, 
manufactories, theatres, fortresses, temples, and altars. 
Roman merchants brought their wares to Germany, and 
fetched thence amber, feathers, furs, slaves, and the very 
hair of the Germans; for it became the fashion to wear 
light flaxen wigs, instead of natural hair. Of the cities 
which the Romans built there are many yet remaining, 
as Salzburg, Ratisbonne, Augsburg, Basle, Strasburg, 
Baden, Spii-es, Worms, Metz, Treves, Cologne, Bonn, etc. 
But in the interior of Germany, neither the Romans nor 
theii' habits and manners had found friends, nor were 
cities built there according to the Roman style. 

During the gi'eat movements of the tribes, the Franks 
had not, like the Goths, Burgundians, and other nations, 
migrated from their dwellings to settle themselves else- 
where, but they remained in their own seat, and from 
thence conquered only that portion of Gaul which lies to 
the north of the forest of Ardennes; and this foi-est 
sheltered them from being drawn into the great streams 
of migration. Their division also into several branches, 
each of which had its own king or prince, prevented them 
from making extensive and general expeditions. 

But their time came. About the year 482, when 
Clovis, the son of Childeric, was lifted up on the shield 
by the Italian Franks to be their leader in war, he soon 
pi'epared himself to execute the plans of his bold and 
comprehensive mind, for the bent of his ardent spirit was 
to make war and conquest. He has sullied the celebrity 
of his military fame by the most despicable want of faith 
to his relatives and allies. He at first concluded with 
the princes of the Franks, who were his equals, and for 
the most part his rela;tions, alliances of war against other 
tribes, and after he had conquered them by their assist- 



23 &ISTOJIY or GERMANY. 

auce, and had become powerful, he then despatched those 
very friends out of his way by poison, the dagger, and 
treachery. By this means he loecame eventually king of 
all the Franks. This people was a union of several 
Germanic tribes: the Salians, Ripuarians, Sicambri, 
Chamaviri, etc., who were seen for the first time in the 
year 240 of our era, along the lower Rhine, since which 
time they had not ceased to fight their w:ay across the 
river, and to seek to establish themselves in Gaul. Therem- 
in they succeeded, and their tribes, passing over, each 
with his chief or king, had established themselves at 
Cologne, at Tournay, at Cambray, and Terouenne. 

The First Known Frank Kings. — Of these kings, 
Clodion, chief of the Salian Franks, is the first whose 
existence is confirmed by positive facts. Pharamond, 
Avho is said to have reigned before him, is only mentioned 
in chronicles of much later date, and those unworthy of 
faith. Clodion took Tournay and Cambray, put all the 
Romans to death whom he foimd therein, and, advancing 
towards the Somme, arrived near Hesdin (448). Here 
the Franks had posted themselves behind a barrier of 
chariots, upon hills at the base of which ran a small river, 
and, believing that the Romans were far distant, cele- 
brated the marriage of one of their chiefs. The entire 
camp was engaged in feasting, altogether unmindful of 
keeping watch, and resounded with song and dance; while 
above it rose the smoke of huge fires at which the 
viands were being cooked. Suddenly the Roman general 
^tius, then the most formidable defender of the empire, 
appeared. His soldiers emerged from a pass, in close 
files, and at the double, along a narrow causeway. They 
crossed a wooden bridge thrown over the river, and 
attacked before their enemy had had time to fonn his lines. 
Behind the warriors who were fighting, others heaped 
tumultuously uf)on the chai'iots all the preparations for 
the feast, the meats and huge jars of beer wreathed with 
garlands; but the Franks being forced to yield or flee, 
the chariots remained in the hands of the conquerors, as 
also the fair bride. Clodion did not sui'vive his defeat. . 



THE FIRST KNOWN FRANK KINGS. 29 

Meroveus, a kinsman of Clodion, who succeeded him 
as chief of the Salians, gave his name to the kings of the 
first race. Three years afterwards, the Franks united 
themselves with all the barbarians cantoned in Gaul, and 
with the rest of the Romans, to arrest the formidable 
invasion of the Huns under Attila. These Huns, a 
Mongol race, had migrated from the centre of Asia west- 
ward three-quarters of a century previously (a.d. 375), 
canying death and devastation on their path. They had 
nothing in common with the peoples of the "West, either 
in facial features or habits of life. Contemporary his- 
torians describe them as surpassing by their savagery all 
that can be imagined. They were of low stature, with 
broad shoulders, thick-set limbs, flat noses, high cheek- 
bones, small eyes deeply sunk in the sockets, and yellow 
complexion. Ammianus Marcellinxis compai-es them, in 
their monstrous ugliness, to beasts walking on two legs, 
or the grinning heads clumsily carved on the jDOsts of 
bridges. They had no beard, because from infancy their 
faces were hideously scarred by being slashed all over, in 
order to hinder its growth. Accustomed to lead a wan- 
dering life in their native country, these wild hordes 
traversed the Steppes, or boundless plains which lie 
between Russia and China, in huge chariots, or on small 
hardy horses, changing their stations as often as fresh 
pasture was required for their cattle. Except constrained 
by necessity, they never entered any kind of house, hold- 
ing them in horror as so many tombs. They were accus- 
tomed from infancy to endure cold, hunger, and thirst. 
As the great boots they wore deprived them of all facility 
in marching, they never fought on foot; but the skill with 
which they managed their horses and threw the javelin, 
made them more formidable to the Germans than even 
the disciplined, but less ferocious, legionaries of Rome. 

This was the rude race which, bursting into Europe in 
the second half of the fourth century, shook the whole 
barbarian world to its centre, and precipitated it upon 
the Roman empire. The Goths fled before them, when 
they passed the DaniibCj the Yandals when they crossed 



30 HISTORY OP GERMANY. 

the RMne, After a lialt of half a century in the centre 
of Europe, the Huns put themselves again in motion. 

Attila, the king of this people, constrained all the 
tribes wandering between the Rhine and the Oural to 
follow him. For some time he hesitated upon which of 
the two empires he should carry the wrath of heaven. 
Deciding upon the "West, he passed the Rhine, the Moselle, 
and the Seine, and marched upon Orleans. The popu- 
lations fled before him in indescribable terror, for the 
Scourge of God, as he was called, left not one stone upon 
another wheresoever he j^assed. Metz and twenty other 
cities had been destroyed : Troyes alone had been saved 
by its bishop Saint Loup. He wished to seize upon 
Orleans, the key of the southern provinces; and his 
innumerable army surrounded the city. Its bishop, St. 
Aignan, sustained the courage of the inhabitants by pro- 
mising them a powei-ful succour. u3^]tius, in fact, arrived 
with all the barbarian nations encamped in Gaul, at the 
expense of which the new invasion was made. Attila 
for the first time fell back; but in order to choose a battle- 
field favourable for his cavalry, he halted in the Cata- 
launian plains near M6ry-sur-Seine, There the terrible 
shock of battle took place. In the first onset the Franks, 
who formed the vanguard of ^tius, fought with such 
animosity that 15,000 Huns strewed the plain. But next 
day, when the gi'eat masses on both sides encountered, the 
bodies of 165,000 combatants were left on that field of 
carnage. Attila was conquered. The allies, however, 
not daring to drive the wild Huns to despair, suflered 
Attila to retreat into Germany (451). In the year fol- 
lowing he made amends for his defeat by an invasion ol 
aSTorthern Italy, i-av aging Aquileia, Milan, and other 
cities in a frightful manner., but died soon after his return 
from an apoplectic stroke (453), and his empire fell with 
him, but not the terrible remembrance of his name and 
of his cruelties. The Visigoths, whose king had perished 
in the fight, and the Franks of Meroveus, had had, with 
_^tius, the chief honour of that memorable day in the 
Catalaunian plains. For it had become a qixestion whether 



CHAOS IN GAUL. 31 

Europe sliould be German or Mongolian; wlietlier tlie for- 
midable king of tlie Huns* or the German race sliould 
found a new empire on the ruins of that Avhich was then 
crumbling in pieces. 

Meroveus had for successor, in 456, his son Childeric, 
The Franks, whom he irritated by his luxury, drove him 
into exile, and took in his place, as their chief, the Eoman 
general .^gidiiis. Little more is known of Childeric than 
the circumstances of his exile and of his return. He died 
in 481, and was bui-ied at Tournay. His son Clovis, by 
Basine, queen of Thuringia, became the true founder of 
the Frank monarchy. 

Chaos in Gaul. — The fate of the chief of the Salian 
Franks, interested only an insignificant people located in 
a corner of Gaul, where, after the battle of M6ry and the 
great league momentarily formed against Attila, every- 
thing had for thirty years fallen back into chaos. The 
empire of the West, reduced almost to Italy alone, was 
dead in 476, when Odoacer, a soldier of fortune and chief 
of the Heruli, who commanded the German mercenaries 
in the imperial service, wrested the sceptre from the feeble 
hands of the youthf id Romulus Augustulus, and founded 
the first barbaric kingdom in Italy. In Gaul, this event 
passed unnoticed, for the Roman general, -.^gidius, whom 
Gregory of Tours calls King of the Romans, held the coun- 
tries between the Loire and the Somme, and bequeathed 
them to his son Syagrius. The cities of Armorica, between 
the mouths of the Loii^e and the Seine, had long since 
constituted themselves into a federate state. The Franks 
pressed in greater numbers into Belgium. The Britons, 
harassed in their island by the pirate Saxons, went in 
their turn to pillage Angers, near the Loire (465). One 
of the last emperors having ceded all the south of Gaul 
to the west of the Rhone to the Visigoths, they further 
seized upon Aries, Marseilles, and Aix, to the left of 

* The Ilims have left in Europe more than one terrible remem- 
brance: it owes to them the cattle i)lague, which, since that epoch, 
has established itself permanently in the Steppes of Southern 
Kussia. 



32 HISTORY OP GERMANY. 

that river (477). It was a pei-petual riisliing backwards 
and forwards, Tlie peoples clashed against and mingled 
with one another from north to south, from east to 
west: all sought fortune sword in hand. The peaceful 
Gallo-Roman cities reoi^ganised their militia, and profited 
by the universal disorder to arrange their secular quar- 
rels. Amidst this chaos the great voice of the Church 
alone was heard speaking of peace and order to those 
furious men, and seen extending its hand to protect the 
feeble. The council of Aries, in 452, interdicted the 
castiiig freedmen again into slavery for the crime of 
ingratitude, unless the same had been juridically proved. 
The council of Orange (441) threatened with ecclesias- 
tical censures him who should attempt to cast back into 
servitude those whom the church had enfranchised, and 
forbade the delivering up of serfs who had sought refuge 
in her sanctuaries. 

The religion of the Franks was the rude and warlike 
worship of Odin, the god of the Scandinavians. They 
believed that after death the brave ascended to the Wal- 
halla, a palace constructed amongst the clouds, and the 
delights of which were continual combats interrupted by 
long banquets, when beer and hydromel circulated inces- 
santly in the skulls of enemies slain by the hei'oes. 
" Therefore the Franks were passionately fond of war as 
the means of becoming rich in this world, and in the 
other the guests of the gods. The youngest and the most 
violent among them sometimes experienced, when fight- 
ing, fits of frenzied ecstacy, during which they appeared 
insensible to pain, and endowed with a power of life per- 
fectly wonderful. They stood erect and still fought on, 
after receiving many wounds, the least of which would 
have sufficed to prostrate other men." We find in the 
Normans the saine warlike fanaticism. 

Clovis was a perfect type of his race. When first 
chosen king of the Salian Franks, he possessed only a 
few districts of Belgium, cantoned about the environs of 
Tournay. The army at his disposal numbered not more 
than four to five thousand warriors, The first five years 



THE VASE OP SOISSONS. 33 

of Lis reign are involved in an obscurity wliicli his youth 
explains. At twenty, he proposed a "warlike exjDedition 
to his Franks, associated therein Ragnachaire, king of 
Cambray, and both, at the head of five thousand warriors, 
defeated, near the ancient abbey of Nogent, twelve leagues 
to the north of Soissons, Syagrius, who sought refuge 
amongst the Visigoths, but was afterwards delivered up 
by tbem to Clovis and put to death. This commence- 
ment of his conquests took place in 486, ten years after 
Romulus Augustulus was deposed. 

The Vase of Soissons. — The spoil taken after the vic- 
tory was considerable. Saint Eemi, bishop of Rheims, 
who seems to have early entertained amicable relations 
with Clovis, reclaimed at the king's hands a precious vase 
which had been carried away from one of his churches. 
When all the booty had been placed in common, the 
king, before its division, said : " I beg of you, my faithful 
followers, to give me that vase, beyond my share." All 
consented thereto except one soldier, who, dealing the 
vase a blow with his battle-axe, exclaimed, " You shall 
have no more than the share allotted to you." The rest, 
however, consented to the king's wish, who took the half- 
shattered vase and sent it to the bishop. The following 
year, at the muster of the trooj)S held annually in the 
month of March, Clovis held a review of his army; and 
when he came before the soldier who had struck the vase, 
he said to him : " No one has his weapons so ill-cared for 
as thine." And so saying he snatched them from him, 
and flung them on the ground. As the man stooped to 
pick them up the king clove his head with a single blow 
of his francisque (double-edged axe), saying, " Thus it 
shall be done unto thee as thou didst to the vase a year 
ago in Soissons." And Gregory of Tours adds : " It 
happened in a manner to inspire all with a supreme 
terror." This incident, in the first campaign of Clovis, 
strikingly illustrates the manners of the age, as well as 
the rude form of government which prevailed among the 
Frankish tribes, the personal character of their leader, 
and the rights, at once illimitable and restricted, of that 

c 



34 HISTORY OF GEnJIAXY. 

barbaric royalty. Clevis lias only his share of the booty, 
like the soldiers, and it is the lot "vvhich has fallen to him; 
at the same time he deals death, without trial, to avenge 
a personal insult, and not a murmiir is heard. Two con- 
trary ideas were evidently clashing in the brains of those 
barbarians : the sacred character of royalty, and the 
invincible feeling of equality — ideas that are met with on 
other occasions in the course of history. 

Marriage of Clovis and Clotilda (493). — The years 
following upon the battle of Soissons were passed in 
negotiating and fighting with the cities between the 
Somme and the Loire. Clovis was especially desirous of 
laying hand upon Paris; but a war with the Thuringians 
which called him beyond the Rhine, and next his mai'- 
liage with Clotilda, niece of Gondeband, king of the Bur- 
gundians, gave another course to events. Clotilda was a 
Christian, and she obtained from her pagan hu,sband the 
promise that her fii'st-born "should be consecrated to 
Christ by baptism." These were facts of the highest 
importance. The bishops of Noithern Gaul, v/ho had 
doubtless brought about this alliance, hojoed for the 
speedy conversion of the king himself; for the cities of 
Amiens, Beauvais, Bouen, and Paris, would open their 
gates to the man who had espoused a woman of their faith. 
Conversion of Clovis (496). — The Alamanns* v,'ho 
occupied a few cantons bordering upon the Vosges — lands 
that had been long devastated, and from which nothing 
more could be taken — on seeing the Pranks lay hands on 
so many rich Boman cities, became possessed with a 
desii'e to foi'ce the latter to share with them; and there- 
fore crossed the Bhine in great mimbers. The Franks 
rushed to meet them with Clovis at their head. The, 
shock was terrible, and Clovis for a moment thought him- 
self vanquished; and, in his distress, throwing himself 
* Or Alemanns, and later called AUemands. This people, 
nelglibours of the Franks, had doubtless been taken by them for 
all the nation which the Romans called Germans ; for they gave 
that name to all the races that dwelt between the Baltic Sea and 
the Danube, and from the Rhine to the Vistula. It would have 
been more correct to call them Teutches or eveu Teutons, 



TUE VICTOKY OF VOULON. £o 

upon his knees, lie invoked the God of Clotilda, One 
more effort changed the fate of the battle. The Ala- 
manns, driven beyond the Rhine, were pursued as far as 
Siiabia; and the population of that country, as well as 
the Bavarians who inhabited the adjacent region, recog- 
nised the supremacy of the Franks. So great was the 
success that Clovis considered himself obliged to keep his 
word. Saint Remigius gave him baptism, and 3000 of 
his chief followers received it with him. In sprinkling 
the holy water upon the head of the neophyte, the bishop 
addressed him in these words: "Bow clown thine head, 
O Sicambrian, and pray to that which thoti didst burn, 
and burn that to which thou didst formerly pray." 

The Victory of Voulon (507). — The glory, and more, 
over the booty, which Clovis obtained by these successes 
brought around him the Franks of other tribes. One 
day, speaking to them of the Visigoths who occupied all 
the country from the Loire to the Pyrenees, he said, '' It 
displeases me that these Arians should possess the best 
portion of Gaul. Let us march against them and gain 
their country." The army followed him, and conquered 
at Voulon, near Poitiers, the Visigoths, ^^ho then only 
preserved in Gaul Septimania (NimQ^s, Beziers, Narbonne, 
etc). The bishops, whom the Arian Visigoths and Bur- 
gundians oppressed, applauded the success of Clovis. 

When Clovis marched into Tours after that brilliant 
expedition, he there fouind the envoys of the Emperor of 
the East. That prince, menaced at the moment by the 
Ostrogoths of Italy, was delighted at the ajopearance, 
beyond the Alps, of a rival to their King Theodoric; and 
he sent to the king of the Franks the titles of consul and 
patrician, with the purple tunic and chlamys. " Then 
Clovis placed the crown upon his head, and, having 
mounted his horse, threw gold and silver amongst the 
assembled people." From that day he was called consul 
or " Augustus." The remembrance of the Roman empire 
still survived. Those titles conferred by the emperor 
seemed to give right to him who was only the possessor 
of force. Clovis, in the eyes of the Gallo-RomanS; was 



36 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

no longer tlie barbarian and pagan conquei'or, but an 
orthodox prince and consul of Rome. 

Unfortunately the orthodoxy, like the consulate, Avas 
only a matter of costume; under the chlamys, as under 
the robe of the catechumen, there lurked the barbarian. 
His wife, the pious Clotilda, long vainly endeavoured, 
alike by her entreaties and her virtues, to bring him to 
a better sense of his responsibilities as a Christian; but 
to prevail over his hard heart nothing availed save the 
actual presence of impending danger. Thus it was long 
apparent by his conduct, as by that of the Franks, that 
this so-called conversion was only a work of necessity, 
for after his baptism, as befoi'e it, he caused his kinsmen 
to be assassinated, and overran the states of Christian 
princes, one after another, in his rage for conquest. So 
that, several centuries later, the Franks were considered 
to be the most perfidious of the German peoples. 

In vain did the sagacious king of the Ostrogoths, Theo- 
doric, who had just established his sway in Italy, and had 
mari'ied the sister of Clovis, Audofleda, endeavour to turn 
that pi'ince from his unjust enterprises; in vain did he 
i-epresent that peace and union alone befitted Christian 
nations. All the means that he employed pi^oved ineffi- 
cacious with an ambitious barbarian who recognised only 
the right of the sword and brute force. Burgundy, which 
Clovis could not entirely subdue, was rendered tributary 
to him; his old ally, Siegebert of Cologne, treacherously 
murdered at his instigation by Siegebert's own son, Chlo- 
deric, and another prince degraded to the condition of a 
subject by being shorn of the long locks which were then 
the indispensable ornament of royal heads. By these, 
and similar unscrupulous means, Clovis became at length 
sole monarch of the Frankish nation ; which, increased as 
it was by his former conquests, now embraced the whole 
of Gaul, and a considerable portion of Germany. Clovis 
died in 511, aged forty -five, having reigned thirty years. 
He had at first fixed his residence at Soissons, and was 
crowned at Rheims; but, about the middle of his i-eign, 
be transferred the seat of sovereignty to Paris. 



SECOND PERIOD. 

FROM THE CONQUESTS OP CLOVIS TO CHARLEMAGNE. 
(511-768). 

Division of the Frank Monarchy between the four 
Sons of Clovis. — At the death of Clevis the kingdom of 
the Franks extended from the German Ocean to the Adonr 
and the Cevennes; and from the frontiers of Brittany 
to the Rhone and Saone. The Rhine ?vas their boundary 
on the north-east. Burgundy and Brittany had been 
rediiced to the condition of tributary states, and were 
bound to furnish a contingent to the Frank armies; but 
Burgundy, having for a short time paid tribute, refused 
it even during the lifetime of Clovis. The cities of Aqui- 
taine, feebly kept in check by the Frankish garrisons 
left in Bordeaux and Saintes, had remained almost inde- 
pendent. 

By Clotilda Clovis had four sons, Thierry, Clodomir, 
ChUdebert, and Clotaii-e, between whom the kingdom 
was divided in such wise that each of them had a portion, 
nearly equal to the territory to the north, of the Loire, 
where the Frank nation had established itself; and also 
part of the Roman cities of Aquitaine which paid rich 
tributes. Thierry, the eldest son, became king of Metz, 
with Cahors and Auvergne; Childebert king of Paris, 
with Poitiers, Perigeux, Saintes, and Bordeaux; Clotau-e, 
king of Soissons, with Limoges ; Clodomir, king of 
Orleans, with Bourges. 

These singular divisions were productive of quarrels, 
which soon broke out; and as, in conseqiience of these 
divisions, all the provinces had become frontier provinces, 
thei'e was not one of them which -escaped pillage and 



S8 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [pERIOD If. 

devastation. Tlie old hatreds of the Gallic cities were 
i'eawakened ; and their armed forces nioi'e than once 
engaged in sanguinary contests in favour of the quarrels 
of their several masters. 

Conquests of the Sons of Clovis. — For some years the 
impulsion of conquest given by Clovis continued. Thierry 
victoriously repulsed the Danes, who had descended as 
far as the mouths of the Meuse; and, in 530, he effected 
the conquest of Thuringia. One day, having assembled 
his Prankish chiefs. King Thierry thus addressed them : 
■' Tlemember, I pray you, that the Thuringians came to 
attack your fathers, that they carried off from them 
everything which they possessed, suspended the children 
to the trees by the nerves of their legs; and caused to 
perish by a cruel death 200 young girls, tying them by 
the arm to the n^cks of horses, Avhom they foi-ced by 
blows of sharp goads to rush in different directions, so 
that they were torn asunder. Others were extended over 
the wheel-ruts of the roads and pinned to the gi'ound by 
stakes; then heavily-laden chariots were driven over 
them, and, their bones being thus broken, they left them 
to serve as food for the dogs and biixls." At these words 
the Franks, with one voice, demanded to be led against 
the Thuringians. Thierry, accompanied by his brother 
Clotaire and his son Theodebert, made a great massaci'e 
of the Thuringians, and reduced their country under his 
power. 

The Conquest of Burgundy (534). — Clovis had ren- 
dered the Burgundians tributary; but Clotilda remained 
unsatisfied, and had long cherished vengeance against the 
murderers of her father, the death of Gondebaud, in 517, 
not having yet appeased her hatred. She one day said 
to Clodomir and her other sons, " That I may not repent 
me, my dear children, of having tenderly nurtured you, 
be, I pray you, indignant at my wrongs, and avenge the 
death of my father and mother." They thereupon marched 
against the two kings of Burgundy, Gondemar and Sigis- 
mond. The latter had recently strangled his son Avhilst 
he slept. The Burgundians were defeated, and Sigis- 



511-768.] CONQUESTS OF THE SONS OF ClOnS: S9 

mond taken. Clodomh' had liirn flung into a well, to- 
gether with his wife and remaining son. Bnt one day, 
whilst j)ursuing too eagerly the enemy, he was himself 
isurronnded and slain at Yeseronce, near Yienne (524). 

The conquest of Burgundy was deferred by that death; 
but, in 532, Clotaire and Childebert prepared another 
expedition, and invited their brother Thierry to march 
with them. The king of Austrasia refused. " If thoii 
wilt not go into Burgundy with thy brothers," said his 
chiefs (leudes) to him, "we will quit thee, and follow 
them in thy place." Thierry had another expedition in 
view; the people of Auvergne had tried to withdraw 
themselves from his domination, and then give them- 
selves to Childebei't, he therefore desired to punish them. 
" Follow me into Aiivergne," said he to his chiefs, " J 
will lead you into a country where you will find gold 
and silver as much as you may desire, and whence you 
can carry away flocks and herds, slaves and vestments 
in abxindance. Only do not follow those men." Clotaire 
and Childebert marched therefore alone into Burgundy, 
besieged Aiitun, and having put Gondemar to flight, 
occupied all the country (534). Meanwhile, Thierry kept 
his word with his chiefs, he abandoned Ativergne to 
them, which was frightfully devastated. 

War against the Visigoths and Ostrogoths — Ex- 
peditions beyond the Alps and the Pyrenees. — The 
king of the Ostrogoths, the victorious invader of Italy, 
Theodoric, having overcome Odoacer at Aquileia and 
Yerona, erected, in 493, a mighty sovereignty, called the 
Empire of the Ostrogoths, which extended northwards as 
far as the Rhine and Danube, and eastwards to the 
borders of Macedonia and Dacia. During a peace oi 
thirty years, he promoted the useful arts, agriculture and 
trade, and even attempted the arduoiis task of draining 
the Pontine marshes, a labour which he personally in- 
spected from a high tower near Terracina, Notwith- 
standing his marriage with the sister of Clovis, the feud 
between the Goths and Fra,nks continued to rage as 
violentlv as ever, until at length Clovis, who had in-^ 



40 HISTORY OP GERMANY, [PERIOD 11. 

vaded the empire of the Visigoths and slain their king, 
was arrested in his successful career by Theodoric, and 
compelled to disgorge the province of Languedoc. In 
523, Theodoric also swept away the Yalais from the 
Burgundians, and the Rouergue, the ViA-arais, and the 
Velay from the Franks. But he died in 526, and the 
Franks then taking the offensive, ravaged the whole of 
SeiDtimania (531.) That province remained, nevertheless, 
to the Visigoths for two centuries; and it will be seen 
that by that gate of the Pyrenees it was that the Arabs 
were able to enter the territories of the Franks. In 533 
the Austrasians retook the Rouergue, the Velay, and the 
Gevaudan. Three years after, Vitigis, king of the Ostro- 
goths, ceded Provence to the Franks in order to obtain 
their alliance against the Greeks. Theodebert, there- 
upon, who succeeded in 534 to Thierry, his father, in 
the royalty of Austrasia, led a numerous army into 
Italy, beat the Goths who had subsidised his troops, the 
Greeks who had summoned him, and then ravaged the 
country at his pleasure. 

Sickness decimated his army. But the barbarians 
counted not their dead, they only reckoned their booty. 
That which Theodebert brought back was so considerable, 
that Childebert and Clotaire, in order to keep their chiefs 
(ieudes) faithful to their standai'ds, were obliged to pro- 
mise them one equally rich in Spain. They passed the 
Pyrenees and took Pampeluna. But Saragossa arrested 
them, and they were beaten on their retreat. They next 
compelled the Alamanns of Bhetia and the Bavarians to 
recognise their sovereignty, and even the Saxons sub- 
mitted to pay them tribute. 

Clotaire sole King (558-561) — Ferocity of Manners — 
Violent Deaths of almost all the Frank Princes. — That 
power fell, in 558, into the hands of Clotaire alone. 
Death or assassination had rid him of his brothers and 
their children. One of them, Clodomir, had been kUled 
at the close of a battle by the Burgundians in 524. O^ 
the three sons left, Childebert and Clotaire slew two of 
them with theii* own hands. Clodoald, disdaining a 



511-768.] DIVISION OF THE FEANKISH KlKGDOM. 41 

terrestial kingdom, devoted himself to heaven, cut off 
his long locks with his own hand, and became a monk. 
He was after death honoured with a record in the calen- 
dar of the church; and his name, slightly altered, sui-- 
vives in the ruins of the palace of Saint Cloud, recently- 
destroyed during the Franco -Prussian war. Clotaire 
reigned only three years over the entire territory of 
Clovis. Chramme, his eldest son, had entered into some 
plot against him with Childebert. His uncle dead, he 
fled for refuge into Brittany; thither his father pursued 
him, defeated the Bretons who sought to protect him; 
and. on his capture, caused him to be fastened with his 
wife and children in a peasant's hut, which was set on 
fire, and all perished in the flames. Such were the 
ferocious manners of that age. 

Clotaire only survived that son a year, and his end 
was as fearful as his crimes had been enormous, for he 
was poisoned by his own son. He died in his villa of 
Compiegne, where, in the immense forest surrounding, 
he often went to amuse himself with those great hunting 
parties which afforded so much pleasure to the early 
Merovingians. At the approach of death, when in his 
last agonies, that fierce barbarian felt himself conquered 
at last: "What is this king of heaven," he exclaimed, 
" who thus causes to perish the greatest kings of the 
earth?" He died in 561, having reigned fifty years. 
Under the sons of Clovis, the spirit of conquest still 
animated the Franks; henceforward, during a century 
and a half, there will reign only the spirit of discord. 

New Division of the Prankish Kingdom (561). — 
Although the partition of the monarchy had led to so 
much crime, yet upon the death of Clotaii-e I., it was 
again divided between his four sons, Charibert, Gonthi-am, 
Chilperic, and Sigebert, into the several kingdoms of 
Paris, Soissons, Metz, and Burgundy. The premature 
death of the king of Paris, Charibert, reduced them to 
three in 567. This last partition had more duration 
than the preceding, because it responded to real divisions, 
to distinct nationalities. Gonthram reisrned over the 



42 HISTORY OF GERIIANY. [PEIIIOD II. 

Burgtindians, SIgebert tlie Anstrasian or eastern Franks, 
and Chilperic over that mixed population of Franks and 
Gallo-Romans, called Nenstrians or Westerns. Of these 
three personages, Gonthram had the least brilliant, but 
the longest existence; he was destined to outlive the 
sanguinary catastrophes of which the two other kingdoms 
were the theatre. 

Fredegonde and Brunehaut. — These catastrophes were 
commenced by the rivalry of Fredegonde and Brunehaut. 
The first of these two celebrated queens had married 
Chilperic, after having incited him to murder his wife, 
Galswinthej the other, sister of Galswinthe, had espoused 
Sigebert. Excited by Brunehaut, who burned to avenge 
the death of her sister, Sigebert seized upon almost all 
the territories of his brother. But Fredegonde caused 
him to be assassinated (575). From that day her crimes 
multiplied; her husband's son was murdered, and Chil- 
l)eric himself met with the same fate (584); the bishop 
Pretextat was assassinated at Bouen on the steps of the 
altar. On accoxmt of the youth of Clotaire II., son of 
Chilperic and Fredegonde, and Childebert II., son of 
Sigebert and Brunehaut, the kingdoms of these princes 
were governed by their two mothers; and for many years 
the struggle between these bad women deluged the royal 
houses with blood. At length, Bi'unehatit, having shed 
the blood of two of her own sons, and that of many other 
persons, received the reward of her crimes. On the death 
of Thierry II. (613), Brunehaut hoped to unite the Bur- 
gundians and Austrasians against the son of Fredegonde, 
but she was betrayed by her own soldiers, and given up 
to Clotaii-e II., her implacable enemy. He reproached 
her with the death of ten kings, abandoned her during 
three days to the insults of his army, and after parading 
her on the back of a camel through his camp, tied her to 
the tail of a wild horse, which dragged her over rough 
ground until she was torn in pieces. The foiir sons of 
Thierry II. had already perished by assassination, and 
Clotaire II. found himself, like his grandfather Clotaire 
I., sole king of the Franks (613). The horrible Frede- 



511-76S.] CLOTAiRE li. SOLE KING, 43 

goncle, his mother, escaped in this life the punishment 
due to her crimes, having died " full of years " in 597. 

State of Gaul in the Sixth Century — Disorders and 
Darkness of the Age. — Humanity has traversed few 
epochs so deplorable as the sixth and seventh centuries 
of our era. The indisci]oline, the brutal violence of the 
barbarians, the absence of all order, the reawakening of 
old rivalries of city and city, of canton and canton, and 
everywhere, in short, a sort of return to a state of pi'imi- 
tive nature; such is the spectacle shown by the annals of 
that miserable epoch. Pillage, incendiarism, or some 
sudden attack and murder were ever to be dreaded by all. 
Besides the evils caused by present violence, there was 
always perpetual inquietude arising from the thought of 
future violence, the barbarians making as little sci'uple 
to forfeit the liberty as the possessions of the vanquished. 
Let us add, in order to finish the picture of those troublous 
centuries which followed the break up of the imperial 
sway of Rome, that all culture of the mind was arrested, 
that the Latin tongue was degraded in those coarse 
mouths, that kings and chiefs, and all who were not in 
the church or the municipal administrations, no longer 
troubled themselves about learning to read or Avrite. 
Civilization retrograded, and seemed on the point of dis- 
appearing altogether under the ruins heaped up by the 
barbarians. 

Three Societies in Gaul. — When the invasion had 

passed over Gaul, breaking the ancient links, and bring- 
ing forth new political and social ideas, as it had brought 
in new peoples, three societies were found in presence of 
each other, one of which served as a link to the two 
others; the Gallo-Romans, the barbarians, and between 
them, recruiting itself from both, the Church. 

Clotaire IL sole King (613-623); Constitution Per- 
petual of 615. — There had been, however, under Clotaii-e 
IL, become sole king after the death of Brunehaut and 
the children of Thierry IT., a considerable eflfort made in 
615 to organise that society the disorder of which we 
have just described. Seventy-nine bishops assembled in 



44 HISTORY OF GERMANY. TERIOD II. 

Paris, together witli tlie chiefs (leucles) of tlie three king- 
doms; and the king sanctioned, by an edict or perpetual 
constittition, the decisions of that assembly. Tho election 
of bishops was reserved for the clergy and the laity of 
the dioceses, the king having only the right to confirm 
the election, after which the metropolitan consecrated the 
elected; the cleric was only legally responsible to his 
bishop ; the direct imposts established by Chilperic, Frede- 
gonde, and Brunehaxit, were abolished ; but the tolls upon 
the roads, and the dues upon entering the cities, sub- 
sisted; the judges of counties were always to be drawn 
from amongst the landed proprietors : a measure extremely 
favourable to the aristocracy, for the great proprietors 
found theuiselves invested with judicial power, which 
then seemed to unite all othei-. 

Barbarian Laws. — Each German tribe had its law. 
That of the Visigoths and the Burgundians approached 
very closely to the Roman code, under which the clergy 
and the Gallo-Komans lived. The laws of the Alamanns, 
the Bavarians, the Ripuarian, and Salian Franks are still 
extant. Three principal characteristics distinguish them 
from the Boman law. At first they formed only a penal 
legislation, that is to say, they were concerned solely with 
crimes, which imjDlies a state of society singularly violent. 
In the second place, they permitted exemption from pun- 
ishment by money fines, by amends or composition {wehr- 
gekl), the amount of which difiered principally according 
to the condition of the injured party. Every injury, from 
an insulting word to murder itself, had its suitable pen- 
alty; thus he who stole a pig was fined 15 shillings, and 
the murderer of a serf, 35; but the slaughter of a freeman 
could not be expiated for a less sum than 300 shillings. 
The iise of scurrilous language subjected him who used it 
to penalties varying from 3 to 6 shillings. The solidus, 
or shilling, was the price of a cow; but it is, of course 
impossible to ascertain its exact value in English money. 
The Salian Franks divided it into forty denarii or pence, 
and the Bipuarii into twelve. If a criminal were unable 
to pay the fine, he swore that he did not possess sufiicient 



511-768.] THE SALIC LAAV. 45 

property either on the earth or under the earth, and made 
over his estate and debt to his relations by taking a hand- 
ful of dust from each of the fonr corners, and throwing it 
on them. He then stripped himself of his under gar- 
ment, and, with a staff in his hand, went to the limits of 
his property. After this ceremony the I'elations became 
responsible for payment of the fine; but if they also were 
unable to discharge it, the culprit was put to death. All 
trials were conducted publicly before a jury of persons of 
like degree with the accused. Proof of the facts was 
admitted by the testimony of a cei'tain number of rela- 
tives or friends, whether of the accused or the accuser. 
The judge might, however, order the single combat, or 
judicial duel, and the ordeals by cold water, hot water, 
or red-hot iron. In the first case, the accused with feet 
and wrists bound, being thrown into a large vessel filled 
with water, was considered to be guilty if he floated — the 
water, which had been religiously consecrated, being 
unable, they said, to retain anything impure. In the 
second, he phmged his hand to the bottom of a vase filled 
with water heated to the boiling-point, to take out a ring 
which the jtidge had thrown therein. If he withdrew it 
without any trace of injury he was acquitted. It was 
the judgment of God. The ordeal by red-hot iron was 
analogous : he had to lift and carry for a few paces a bar 
of iron reddened in the fire; if, three days afterwards, 
the hand was without injury, or if the injuiy presented 
a certain aspect, the accused was innocent. Tortures and 
executions were reserved for the slave and the serf con- 
victed of crime. The free man was habitually subjected 
only to the loehrgeld. 

The Salic Law. — That law, drawn up in writing on 
the left bank of the Eliine before the baptism of Clovis, 
is preceded by a prologue written later by some cleric of 
Frankish origin, and which clearly shows the degree of 
savagery still remaining in that jieople, even in its 
records, and also smcere devotion to the Church: "Long 
live the Christ who loves the Franks ! may he watch over 
their kingdom and fill their king with light and grace; 



46 IIISTOKY OP GERMAXr. [PEUIOD 11. 

may lie protect the army, may lie grant it signs whicli 
attest its faith, the joys of peace and happiness. May 
the Lord Jesus dii'ect in the path of piety the reigns of 
those who govern ns; for this nation is that one -which, 
small in numbers, but brave and strong, shook off the 
heavy yoke of the Romans; and who, having recognised 
the sanctity of baptism, ornamented sumptuously with 
gold and precious stones, the bodies of the holy martyrs, 
v/hom the Komans had burnt in the fire, massacred, muti- 
lated with the sword, or caused to be torn by wild beasts." 

A famous article of the Salic law decreed that a woman 
could not inherit Salic or allodial land, for which the 
Frank owed military service. That exclusion was natural ; 
and, later on, the kingdom was assimilated to the Salic 
land, and women in France have ahvays been excluded 
from the succession to the crown. In all the German 
kingdoms general assemblies of the people were lield 
under different designations. Thus, among the Anglo- 
Saxons, they were termed Witenagemots (Councils of 
the Wise), and, amongst the Franks, ]\Iarzfelder (fields 
of March), because they were held in the open fields in 
that month. At these meetings questions of war and 
peace were debated; and, in the event of the former being 
voted, the Heerbann or general militia was called out 
by the king, every adult male being required to appear 
at an appointed place armed and equipped for the cam- 
paign. In the field the inhabitants of each duchy and 
county were marshalled under the banner of their duke 
or count, the whole being under the command of the king, 

Childebei't II., having reunited the two kingdoms of 
Austrasia and Burgundy, had attempted to seize upon 
that of his cousin, Clotaire II. ; but his troojis were 
defeated at Droissy, near Soissons; and, before he had 
time to repair that check, a sudden sickness carried him 
off in 596. He left two sons, the eldest of whom, Thco- 
debert II., had Austrasia; the other, Thierry II., Bur- 
gundy. After their deaths, Clotaii'e II. reigned alone till 
G2S, when he died, leaving his kingdom between his two 
sons, Dagoberb 1. and Charibevt U, 



511-76S.] MAYORS OF THE PALACE. 47 

Clotaire II., in 622, had imposed his son Dagobert as 
king tii^on the Austrasians, under the direction of the 
mayor of the pahice, Pepin de Landen, or the Old, who 
had ah'eady distinguished himself in the struggle against 
Brunehaut, and of Saint Arnoulf, hishop of Metz. These 
two personages, ancestors of the Carlovingian House, 
Were closely allied by the marriage of their childre*!. 
Ansegise, the son of Arnoulf, had espoused a daughter of 
Pepin de Landen, and of their union was born Pepin 
d'Heristal. 

Dagobert, by the murder of his brother in 631, made 
himself master of the whole kingdom. He was the most 
powerful and the most popular of the Merovingian kings. 
" A terrible j^rince," says his biogi'apher, " towards rebels 
and traitors, grasping firmly the royal sceptre, and stand- 
ing like a lion against the factious." He founded the 
abbey of St. Denis, where the greater number of the kings 
of France lie buried; he encouraged the slight vestiges 
of art then existing, and exhibited a luxury unknown to 
his ferocious predecessors. For this he has been called 
'•' the Solomon of the Franks," and the name of the gold- 
smith Eloi, his minister, linked with his own. 

Decadence of the Merovingian Empire. — The reign of 
Dagobert, like a short gleam of prosperity between a 
period of conquest and another of rapid decadence, saw 
also the reverse. That prince was forced to yield the 
greatest part of Aquitaine to his brother Charibert. 
During his lifetime, but especially after his death, defec- 
tions multiplied. Then the Saxons refused the tribute, 
the Thuringians revolted, the Prisons gave themselves to 
a duke, the Bavarians and the Alamanns only lent an 
obedience ptirely nominal. Even in the interior of Gaul 
the Frank domination fell back as far as the Loii-e. The 
successors of Charibert reigned over all Aquitaine and 
Gascony. Southern Burgundy gave itself eqiially to its 
national chiefs. 

Mayors of the Palace. — In each court there was a 
mayor of the palace, chief of the warriors, elected by 
them, and judge of all the quarrels which arose within 



48 HISTORY OP GERMANY, [PERIOD II. 

the royal abode. By degrees that officer, who at first 
only had the control of the palace and the command of 
the chiefs (leudes), assumed plenary power, the king dele- 
gating to his hands the discharge of the royal functions. 
From 613 the mayors found themselves strong enough to 
stipulate, when delivering np Bininehaut to Clotaire II., 
that they should hold their ajipointments for life. Var- 
nachaire, says a contemporary chronicler (Fredegaire), 
was instituted mayor of the palace of Burgundy, and 
received from the king an oath that he shonld never be 
degraded. Neustria, Anstrasia, and Burgundy had each 
their several mayors of the palace, who all strove to 
grasp the principal power. Not only did the mayoralty 
become an office for life, biit it was about to become, in 
Anstrasia, at least, hereditary; so that the functions ol 
royalty will be, on one side, in the hands of the mayor, 
and the title, on the other, in those of the king. 

Gaul now for some ages was characterised, under the 
incapable hands of the Merovingian dynasty, by more 
than ancient barbarism. The descendants of Clovis 
reigned over the Franks for nearly two centuries and a 
half. That long period occupies but a brief space in 
history; its annals offer only a succession of barbarities 
and crimes. From Clovis to Charles Martel, the grand- 
father of Charlemagne, there existed not a royal personage 
worthy of the reader's attention or memory; nor is there 
recorded an event or anecdote which could excite any 
other feeling than that of disgust. 

The race of Clovis became eftete from gx'oss licentious- 
ness, and was thinned by mutual slaughter. Monarchs 
01 monarch's sons could not long escape the sword of the 
assassin ; whilst to intrvist a child-king to the cai-e of one 
of his own race, or of royal blood, even if such survived, 
was to deliver him to certain destruction. Hence arose 
the necessity of electing regents amongst the Frank chiefs. 
The office fell to the only magistrate or minister existing 
in that rude state of society. This was the mordom or 
'iiiajor domus, as it is rendered in Latin, who was at once 
a royal judge and a sort of steward of the household. In 



511-768.] MAYORS OF THE PALACE. 49 

their own names they assumed the power of pardoning 
offences, of distributing offices, of filling vacant fiefs, and 
of transmitting their honours and possessions to their 
descendants. In all this, however, they were obliged to 
proceed with much caution, having in the other great 
feudatories not only equals, but rivals. Austrasia and 
Neustria, or the kingdoms of the East and the West, the 
two great divisions of the Frankish monarchy, the foi'mer 
including the territories bordering on the Rhine, the 
latter the more central parts of modern France, were 
nominally governed by Thierry IV., but in reality by 
Pepin d'Heristal, mayor of the palace and duke of France; 
who, restricting his sovereign to a small domain, ruled 
France for thirty years with great wisdom and good 
policy. 

Charles Martel, the valiant son of Pepin, succeeded to 
his father's power, and, under a similar title, governed for 
twenty-six years with equal ability and success. He was 
victorious over all his domestic foes. His arms kept in 
awe the surrounding nations; and he delivered France 
from the ravages of the Saracens, who at that time were 
making great inroads in the parts bordering upon Spain, 
and whom he entirely defeated between Tours and Poitiers, 
mowing them down like grass to the number of more than 
300,000 (a.d. 732),* and again near Avignon, in 737, 
thereby, in all probability, securing Lombardy, Italy, and 
eventually the eastern empire from the preponderance of 
the Moslems : such a course of conquest, according to 
their own writers, having been contemplated by the 
Arabian commander. Christianity was thus saved from 
the gi-eatest danger by which it had ever been menaced. 

In the same year (737), died Thierry IV., the last of 
the " sluggard " kings {faineants), when Charles Martel, 
no longer thinking it necessary to appoint another nomi- 
nal king at his death, in 741, bequeathed the kingdom as 
an absolute right between his two sons, Carloman and 

'■ * It was in this battle that Charles obtained the surname of 
Martel, from the fury with which his heavy iron maee hammered 
dowB the Saraoeuss 

h 



50 IIISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD II. 

Pepin tJie Short. Aquitania was not included in this 
bequest. It was governed by dukes of its own, and 
refused to acknowledge the authority of Charles. Pejoin 
and Carloman assumed the title and power of kings, and 
thus put an end to the Merovingian dynasty, or that of 
the race of Clovis, which had reigned from a.d. 481 toi 
741— in all, 260 years. 

For som« time before being thus supplanted by a new- 
power, the later monarchs of the Merovingians had become 
so far sunk in sloth and timidity, that the titular king 
no longer appeared in public before the people, save at the 
assemblies in March. Then, seated on the throne of his 
ancestors, and exposed to the gaze of every one, he bowed 
to the great men, who returned his salute; received the 
presents offered to him by the nation, and remitted them 
to the mayor of the palace, who stood at the foot of the 
throne. Next, he distributed, according to the decision 
of the mayor, the vacant domains, or confirmed those 
which had been abready granted. This done, he re- 
entered his chariot di-awn by four oxen, following the 
ancient custom, and rolled lazily back to his palace, which 
he did not leave again until the month of March in the 
following year. The male members of the Merovingian 
royal family were distinguished from the rest of the people 
by the custom of wearing their hair in long cvirls hanging- 
down over their shoulders, whilst all the other Franks 
had it cut very short. From this custom they are some- 
times called the " long-haii*ed kings" (les rois chevelus). 
The Merovingian race, says Eginhard, had not for a long 
time given proof of any virtue, or of anything illustrious 
save the title of king. The prince contented himself with 
the exhibition of his flowing locks and amj^le beard, with 
sitting on the throne and in his royal robes thus rejire- 
senting the monarch, generally too happy to intrust the 
cares of state to an able minister, whilst they themselves 
did little else (says a contemporary, Gregory of Tours), 
but gormandise like brute beasts, except now and then 
signing a state paper, or giving audience to ambassadors, 
and making replies to thepi "yv^hich they were taught, 



511-768.] MAYORS OP THE PALACE, 51 

OX' rather ordered to make. When Pei^in d'Heristal 
demanded of Berthaire, a pretender to tlie throne of 
Nenstria, the recall of the JSTeustrian chiefs who had 
sought refuge in Austrasia, Berthaire replied that he 
would go in search of them himself, and went at the 
head of a nu.merous army. But Roman France, as 
Neustria had then begun to be called, was conquered at 
Testry (near Peronne), by Teutonic France, (687). That 
battle really put an end to the first dynasty of the Frank 
kings. For though the Merovingian kings still bore 
that title until 753, it was without linking with it even 
a shadow of power. In those 65 years, no acclamation 
arose in favour of that degenerate race to which it 
seemed even a trouble to live. Almost all these princes 
died in early manhood. Those who attained their 
thirtieth year were already old men, and their subjects 
were astonished to see them reach so great an age. 



THIRD PERIOD. 

FROM CHARLEMAGNE TO HENRY I. — (768-919). 

Origin of the Carlovingians. — The empire of the 
Merovingians, which had reached its apogee under 
Dagobert, had, as has been shown, slowly crumbled to 
pieces in the incapable hands of the " sluggard " kings. 
But from among the Franks, who had preserved upon the 
banks of the Rhine the warlike energy of the first con- 
querers, there sprang a family which combined all the 
conditions then requisite for exercising a great influence. 
It had very considei*able possessions, for it reckoned 
amongst them as many as one hundred and twenty-three 
domains, and it had consequently a niimerous band of 
adherents, that is to say, many warriors attached to its 
fortunes. The chiefs of this family, during the seventh 
century, had held hereditarily the ofiice of mayor of the 
palace of Austrasia; first in the persons of Pepin de 
Landen and Arnoulf ; next in Grimbald, son of Pepin, 
who had thought himself strong enough to jilace his own 
son upon the throne; and at length in Pepin d'Heristal, 
who, in 687, usurped the whole power of the kingdom. 
(Landen and Heristal were small towns in the neighbour- 
hood of Liege). On the death of Pepin, in 714, he was 
succeeded in his office and dignities as general and 
governor of all France by his son, Charles Martel, of 
whose signal A^alour and great energy mention has already 
been made. Charles died in 741, covered with glory on 
account of his splendid victories, leaving two sons, Pepin 
the Short and Carloman, the latter of whom soon after- 
wards retired into a monasteiy; when Pepin became sole 
major donnts of Finance. In that quality, he go^'erned 



768-919.] WARS OP PEPIN. 53 

the kingdom at liis will, in all wisdom and equity; 
whilst the king, Childeric III., kept himself shut xip like 
a woman in his palace, without troubling himself about 
the government. But Pepin, having convinced himself 
that general feeling was in his favour, convoked a national 
assembly in 751, at which it was decided that a deputa- 
tion should be sent to the Pope to propose the following 
insidious question: "Which of the two is most worthy 
of the title of king; he who sits idly at home, or he who 
bears the burden and cares of government?" Pope 
Zacharias replied : " He ought to be king who holds the 
royal power." The Franks reassembled at Soissons on 
this matter, tore the crown from Childeric III., the last 
Merovingian, ciit off his long locks, and condemned him 
to pass the rest of his life in a cloister. 

Wars of Pepin (741-768). — During twenty-six years 
of continual wars and victories, Pepin rendered more 
assured the domination of the Franks over the Germanic 
tribes. He overthrew the dukes of Aquitania, i-escued 
Septimania from the Arabs, and took the city of Yannes 
from the Bretons. At the solicitation of the Pope, Pepin 
twice crossed the Alps and conqiiered Astolphus, king of 
the Lombards, who, alarmed at the alliance between the 
king of the Franks and the Pope, had attacked the latter 
in his capital. Pepin having driven out Astolphus from 
the province called the exai-chate of Eavenna, gave it to 
the church. That donation was the oi'igin of the tem- 
poral power of the popes. As a reward for his services, 
Pepin was nominated exarch of Rome and Ravenna, with 
the title of Protector of the Holy City; and thus in the 
alliance of the temporal and spiritual powers was laid the 
foundation of that grievoxis tyranny nnder which Germany 
afterwards groaned for so many centuries. The church 
revived for him the Hebrew rite of consecration; he 
twice received the holy unction, first from the hands 
of Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and a second time, 
in 754, by those of Pope Stephen II., who came himself 
for that purpose as far as St. Denis. He undertook only 
two expeditions against the Saxons, from whom he exacted 



64 HISTORY OF GERMAN!'. [pERIOD III. 

a tribute of 300 liorses and free entrance into tlieir 
country to the Christian priests. In that quarter, he 
seems not to have wished to trovible by his arms the work 
of civilization which the missionaries were then accom- 
plishing. All his attention and all his sti'ength were 
directed towards the countries of the South, Italy, 
Aquitania, and Southern Gaul. Pepin died of dropsy 
at Paris on his return from the expedition of 768, in 
which he achieved the conquest of Aquitania; *'and," 
says Eginhard, " with the consent of his nobles, di-s'ided, 
on his death-bed, the kingdom of France between his tAVO 
sons, Charles and Carloman." 

Pepin was surnamed the Short from the smallness of his . 
stature, which, however, detracted in no wise from his 
physical strength, if a very doubtful anecdote be credited 
that with one blow he fractured the skull of a lion that 
no one dared encounter. He was a man of great activity 
of mind and body, and reigned for 17 years Avith dignity 
and success, the founder of the second race of monarchs 
known as the Carlo vingian. In 759, he annexed to his 
OAvn dominions Narbonne and a great portion of Languedoc, 
then called Septimania, which had been conquered from 
the Yisigoths by the Saracens. TJj^on Pej^in fell a two- 
fold task — to reconstruct the empire of the Franks which 
was falling to pieces, and to restore the royal authority, 
then in ruins. Of these two tasks, the second was more 
difficult to accomplish than the first. 

Charlemagne and Carloman. (768-771). — Carloman 
had received Neustria as his portion, and Chai'les (after- 
wards known in history as Charlemagne, or Charles the 
Great) inherited Austrasia. This division of the empire 
existed for only three years, and those years were employed 
in completing the Avork of Pepin in Aquitania. Carloman 
had badly supported his elder brother in that war, and a 
misunderstanding arose between the two princes which 
threatened a civil Avar, when Carloman died from an 
accident in 771, leaving sons. The Neustrians having to 
choose betAveen those children and theiruncle, Charlemagne, 
who had already shoAvn himself a Avorthy successor of 



76S-919.] CIIARLEMAGI^E AND CARLOJlAiT. 55 

Pepin, did not hesitate to proclaim him their king. TJie 
first act of Charlemagne had stamped him as the Avarrior 
eager for conquest. He raised an army and advanced 
with it beyond the Loire, For centuries bai'barism had 
been continually making war upon civilization, conquering, 
destroying, or blending with it. The conquest was not yet 
over, the amalgamation not perfect. The rude Austrasians 
of the E,hine had lately subdued the more polished Neus- 
trians of the banks of the Seine. But Aquitania and the 
southern provinces were, with respect to Neustria, what 
Neustria had been to Austrasia, far more civilised and 
Latinised, and the hate on the one side equalled the desire 
of conquest and domination on the other. Pej^in had 
vanquished the Aquitanians. .Upon his death they rebelled, 
rallying round one of the family of their ancient dukes. 
But the courage of the southerns failed before the approach 
of Charlemagne and his northern army; their troops dis- 
persed, and their chief remained a prisoner. Charlemagne, 
ere he retired, built the strong castle of Fronsac, on the Dor- 
dogne, and garrisoned it, to keep the malcontent province 
in subjection. The Franks had hitherto a hatred of towns, 
and a contempt for fortifications. This is the first instance 
among them of dominating a country by means of a fortress, 
and marks how advanced were the views of Charlemagne 
beyond those of his time. To a restless activity of body, 
Avhicli made every hoiir appear tedious unless employed 
in combating his enemies, or in the organization of his 
empire at home, this great man united a creative spirit, 
which, during the forty-three years of his reign, changed 
the condition not only of France, but of all Europe. With 
him closes the history of ancient Germany. All the old 
free states and kingdoms were incorporated into one mighty 
empire, and with the new name the people adopted new 
views and a nev/ character. 

The Goths, the Bui'gundians, the Lombards, and the 
Franks, had, as has been said, embraced Christianity 
already for some time back; but it was only two centuries 
afterwards that it spread in Germany, the greater part of 
which seems to have remained in heathen darkness until 



56 blSTORY OP GERMAl^t. [pERlOD 111. 

the eighth century, when missionaries from the churches 
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, left their OAvn shores 
to preach the Gospel of Christ in the forests of their 
ancient fatherland. Amongst those zealous propagators 
of the truth, who sowed the good seed far and wide, the 
most distinguished was an Anglo-Saxon monk, named 
Winifried, who was later known by the clerical title 
of Bonifacius (beneficent). On his arrival in Gaul, he 
found heathenish ceremonies everywhere intermingled 
with the rites of Christian worship ; the priests so 
ignorant that, far from being able to explain the doctrines 
of Christianity, few of them could even read. Boniface, 
indeed, complained far more bitterly of the bad Christian 
priests whom he found amongst the Franks, than of the 
bai'barity of the pagans. They abandoned themselves to 
every sort of crime; and for money they would have as 
readily sacrificed to pagan gods, to Thor or Woden, as 
baptize Christians; and the lightest reproaches with 
which he visits the bishops, whose duty it was to main- 
tain the discipline of the Church, being that they Avere 
more occupied with war, the chase, and the banquet, than 
in the exercise of their religious functions. "For the last 
60 or 70 years," he writes to Pope Zacharias, "religion 
has been entirely dragged in the mire ; and more than 80 
yeai's have elapsed since the Franks have held a council, 
and they have not a single archbishop. Almost all the 
bishoprics are in the hands of greedy laics, and the others 
in those of infamous ecclestiastics who seek only after 
temporal gain." Having soon ascertained that the co- 
operation of some higher power would be requisite, in 
order to enforce discipline among the corrupt clei-gy of 
the Frankish chui-ch, Boniface earnestly solicited the 
assistance of the Pope. That such a step was unavoid- 
able, appears from his letters, in which he describes himself 
as being " in the situation of a mastiff, which sees the 
thieves and murderers breaking into his master's house, 
but, having none to help him, can do little more than 
gi'oan and growl." In an epistle to the English bishop, 
Daniel, he speaks also of the necessity of conciliating, not 



568-910.] WAR AGAINST THE SAXONS. 57 

only the Pope, but the Frankish king. "Without aid 
from the Prince of the Franks, I can neither rule the 
people, nor protect the priests and deacons, monks and 
nuns, whom I have brought hither with me from England ; 
nor can I, without his commands and penalties to enforce 
obedience to the same, hope to put an end to their 
heathenish practices and sacrifices to idols." 

The great measure of church reform among the Franks 
having been at length completed, Boniface found himself 
at leisure to undertake the conversion of the heathen; a 
work which he carried on with his accustomed energy, 
preaching with great zeal and effect, and stationing mis- 
sionaries in all parts of Germany. Fearless of danger, 
he would scatter with his own hands the stones of altars, 
around which multitiides of howling savages were assem- 
bled to offer sacrifices to their idols; or, snatching an axe 
from the ministering priests, hew down some ancient tree, 
the dwelling, as they believed, of some deity of their dark 
and bloody mythology. During this operation, the people 
would gaze in stupid wonder on the sacrilegious stranger, 
expecting, as stroke after stroke fell on the trunk, that 
its terrible inhabitant would rush forth in a flame of fire 
and consume Boniface and his companions; but when the 
tree at length fell, without any sign of their god's dis- 
pleasure, they generally lost all confidence in his power, 
and listened patiently to the exhortations of the mission- 
aries. All who declared their willingness to embrace 
Christianity were then questioned after a certain formulary. 
In the seventieth year of his age, Boniface being then 
archbishop of Mainz and primate of the Greek Church, 
went to preach the gospel in Friesland, where he fell a 
victim to the ferocity of the people. "Truly" (says old 
Schmidt), Germany hath great cause to be thankful unto 
Bonifacius; for he it was who gave her instructors, not 
only in religion, but in the sciences ; persuaded her in- 
habitants to eat no more horse-flesh, laid the foundation 
of letters among them, and shunned not to shed his blood 
for their sakes." 

War against the Saxons (772-804). — Eeligion was 



5S HISTORY OF GERMANY. [rEKIOD III. 

the pretext for tlie long war Charlemagne waged against 
the Saxons — the most formidable and obstinate enemies 
whom he encotmtered during his reign. The Saxons, a 
brave but savage race, who for centuries had been engaged 
at intervals in sanguinary struggles with the Frankish 
kings, had burned the church of Deventer and menaced 
with death the missionaries who had come amongst 
them, Charlemagne immediately entered their country, 
and devastated it far and wide by sword and fire, took 
the castle of Ehresbourg, and overthrew the idol Irminsul, 
a patriotic remembrance of Hermann (or Arminius), the 
liberator of Germany from the Romans. In 774, whilst 
Charles the Great was in Italy, the Saxons tried to 
burn the church of Fi'itzlar; he returned and began a 
war of extermination, of which the piincipal incidents 
were the victories of Buckholz, of Detmold and Osna- 
bruck, the massacre of the 4500 Saxons decapitated at 
"Verden, the transportation of a part of that peo2ole into 
other provinces, and the forced conversion of the in- 
habitants. The hero of the resistance was Wittikind. 
He fought resolutely until 785 ; he then submitted 
and received baptism at Attigny. The last cam- 
paign, however, was undertaken as late as the year 
803. 

Chaiiemagne, in 787, had promulgated for the organisa- 
tion of Saxony, a capitular in which the pain of death 
was to be found in almost every article, not only for 
crimes which all laws punished thus, but for simple 
infractions of tlie ordinances of the church; for having 
broken the quadrigesimal fast, refused baptism, carried 
on intrigues with pagans, or burned, like them, the body 
of a dead man, holding, as he did, cremation to be a 
j)agan rite. 

Charlemagne, having followed up this crusade at inter- 
vals for a period of thirty-three years, by means not 
unfrequently altogether atrocious, at length succeeded. 
Saxony emerged from his hands subdued and Christian, 
divided into eight bishoprics, studded with new cities and 
abbeys, which proved centres of civilization; and that 



76S-919.] WAR AGAINST THE SAXONS. 59 

•wild country, until then barbarous and pagan, entered 
into communion witli the rest of the empire. 

It will now be necessary to revert to the year 773, 
when Chai'lemagne's attention was called away from the 
Saxons towards Italy, where his conquests and alliances 
jiroduced events as important in their conseqtiences, 
perhaps, as any to be found in modern history. He had 
contracted a matrimonial alliance with Desiderata, a 
Lombard princess; but had repudiated her within a year 
after their union, apparently from mere caprice, and sent 
her back dishonoured to her father. Didier (or Desiderius), 
king of the Lombards, exasperated by this gross outrage, 
appealed to the Pope, Adrian I., to recognise the two 
young sons of Carloman as their father's lawful successors ; 
and, on the pontiff's refusal, the Lombai'd army invaded 
the papal territory, seized upon several cities, and threat- 
ened Rome itself. In the autumn of 773, Adrian sent 
messengers in urgent haste to the king of the Franks, 
imploring immediate succour. Charlemagne assembled 
his forces at Geneva, and crossed the Alps in two great 
divisions — the first, under himself, by the pass of Mont 
Cenis, whilst his uncle Bernard attempted the passage at 
the spot which was then Mons Jovis [Mont Joux), but 
which has since been called after his name, the Great St. 
Bernard. Checked for a moment by the enemy in their 
descent from the moiintains, the Franks overpowered all 
resistance when once they had reached the plain. Didier 
fled to Pavia; his son, Adalhgis (Adalgisius), with whom 
were the widov/ and children of Carloman, threw himself 
into Verona. Both cities were invested by the Franks, 
and both, after some months, suri'endered at discretion. 
When the Lombard king reconnoitered the Prankish 
army from a high tower^ and saw the gigantic form of 
his enemy sheathed in bright armour, and mounted on a 
charger, which seemed, like its master, to be an animated 
statue of iron, his heart, the old chroniclers relate, sunk 
within him, and he exclaimed in a melancholy tone to his 
attendants — " Let us descend and hide ourselves in the 
earth from the angry face of so tei-rible a foe." Didier, 



60 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD III. 

■witli his wife and daughter, the widowed queen of 
Carloman, and the orphan princes, all fell into the hands 
of the conqueror. Charlemagne, having placed on his 
own head the ancient ii'on crown of Lombardy, the 
Lombard king was sent captive to Gaiil, confined first 
at Liege, and afterwards for life in the Abbey of Corvey. 
The fate of the young princes is more doubtful, but it 
seems probable that they were likewise compelled to bury 
themselves for life in the obscurity of the cloister. 

The same year Charlemagne visited Rome, and, dis- 
mounting at a thousand paces from the walls, walked in 
procession to the church of St. Peter on the Vatican Hill, 
kissing the steps in succession as he ascended in honour 
of the saints by whose feet they had been trodden. In 
the vestibule of the church he was received by the Pope, 
who embraced him with great affection, the choir chant- 
ing the j)salm, " Blessed is he who cometli in the name 
of the Lord." Then they descended into the vaults, and 
offered up their prayers together at the shriue of St. 
Peter. 

Meanwhile, the Lombards, far from submitting patiently 
to the yoke of a foreign master, had placed Adalgisius, 
the son of Didier, on his father's throne. But might 
again prevailed over right, and the unhappy prince was 
compelled to save his life by going into exile; whilst of 
all the Lombardic cities, Venice alone bade defiance to 
the conqueror, beat back his armies from her walls, and 
retained her freedom. 

Charlemagne next spread his victorious arms over the 
south of Italy, the whole of which submitted to his 
power, with the exception of that part which now forms 
the kingdom of Naples, and which was then governed by 
independent princes of the Lombardic race, who had the 
title of dukes of Beneventum. Charlemagne had a gi-eat 
desire to annex this province to his new kingdom 
of Italy, but the dukes of Beneventum fought hard 
for their independence, and Charlemagne, after a 
long struggle, was obliged to give up the attempt. 
The Frank domination extended no further than the 



7C8-9] 9.] CHARLEMAGNE, EMPEROR OF THE WEST. 61 

Garigliano; and, if tlie dukes of Beneventum acknow- 
ledged themselves as tributaries, they mostly only paid 
the tribute when an army came to demand it from them. 
Charlemagne, however, assumed the title of king of 
Italy in 774, and that was the commencement of the 
misfortunes of that country. From that time, it has 
almost always ceased to boast of its independence, and it 
was by that title of heirs of Charlemagne that the empe- 
rors of Germany reigned over the valley of the Po. The 
Lombards always preserved that which they possessed in 
the south of the peninsula. 

War in Spain (778).— Charlemagne was at Paderborn, 
occupied with compelling the Saxons to be baptised, when 
a Saracen emir, Jhn-al-Arabi, lord of Saragossa, came 
to him offering to place the Franks in possession of the 
cities he held south of the Pyrenees. Charles accepted the 
invitation, and with a numerous army traversed Gascony, 
the duke of which, Loup, was forced to swear fidelity to 
him. He took Pampeluna and Saragossa. But his allies 
offering him little aid, he re-entered France by the gorges 
of the Pyrenees. The princijDal general in this expedition 
■was Roland, lord of the marches of Brittany, the hero of 
Prankish song, who fell in a skirmish while threading the 
defile of Boncesvalles. 

Li the course of a reign of forty-five years, Charle- 
magne extended the limits of his empire beyond the 
Danube ; subdued Dacia, Dalmatia, and Istria-^ conquered 
and subjected all the barbarous tribes to the banks of the 
Vistula, and successfully encountered the arms of the 
Saracens, the Huns, the Bulgarians, and the Saxons. 
His war with the Saxons was of more than thirty years 
duration, and their final conquest was not achieved with- 
out an inhuman waste of blood, through what has been 
considered a mistaken zeal for the propagation of Christi- 
anity, by measures which that religion cannot be said to 
sanction or approve. 

Charlemagne, Emperor of the West (800). — All these 
wars were very nearly finished in the year 800. Charle- 
magne then found himself master of France, of Germany, 



62 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD III. 

of tkree qiiarters of Italy, and a part of Spain. He had 
increased by more tlian a third the extent of territory 
which his father had left him. These vast possessions 
were no longer a kingdom, but an empire. He thought 
he had done enough to be authorised to seat himself on 
the throne of the West; and, as his father had requii-ed 
at the hands of the Pope his regal crown, so it was from 
the Pope that he demanded his imperial diadem. He 
was, therefore, with great ceremony, created Emperor of 
the West in St, Peter's, at Ptome, by Pope Leo III,, on 
Christmas day 800, It was a great event, for that 
imperial title which had remained buried under the ruins 
wrought by the barbarians, was drawn thence by the 
Roman pontiff, and shown to scattered nations and 
enemies as a rallying sign. A new right was created 
for those who should inherit that crown — the right of 
ruling over the Italian, German, and French peoples, who 
then found themselves united under the sceptre of the 
first Germanic emperor. When circumstances arising 
out of family claims, and through lapse of time, caused 
this title to pass to the German kings, France found her- 
self strong enough to repulse the domination of a foreign 
C^sar, but not Italy. Thence sprung one-half of the 
evils which that beautiful country was doomed to suffer. 
Extent of the Empire of Charlemagne. — Of these 
extensive conquests of Charlemagne some were durable, 
others ephemeral; some useful, othex-s not. They had 
changed the constitvition of a large portion of Eui'ope. 
From the Ebro to the Paab and Theiss, and from Bene- 
ventum to the Eyder, all the German tribes, with the 
exception of the Anglo-Saxons, and the Scandinavians, 
who occupied Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, were for 
the first time imited under one head. To these were 
joined the Romans of the western empire, and a consider- 
able portion of the Sclavonians and Avars; so that the 
dominions of Charlemagne were more extensive than 
those of the Roman emperors had been. The whole of 
this mighty monarchy had one religion, which formed a 
wall of separation from the Mahommedans in Spain, 



768-919.] PIRATICAL DESCENTS OF THE NORMANS, 63 

Africa, and Asia, on the one side, and the heathenish 
Normans, Sckivonians, and Avax'S, on the othei\ Italians 
and Germans, forgetting their former hatred of each other, 
were now united to defend their church against the attacks 
of all enemies, whether Mahommedan, pagan, or heretical, 
like the inhabitants of the eastern empire. 

Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III. (800).— In 
800, as already stated, the Emperor of the Franks 
received from the hands of Pope Leo III. the crown 
which was destined for one thousand and six years to be 
the symbol of German unity, whilst the assembled people 
shovited "Long life and victory to Carolus Augustus, the 
great and peace-bringing Roman emperor, whom God hath 
crowned ! " Thus, 324 years after the imperial dignity 
had disappeared in the person of Romulus Augustulus, 
it was renewed by Charlemagne, who attributed such im- 
portance to that coronation as to requii^e from all male 
persons who had attained the age of twelve years a new 
oath of submission. Another personage acquired on 
that occasion an important prerogative. In crowning 
Oharlemtigne, Pope Leo III. had fulfilled a function, like 
St. Remy did in consecrating Clovis. His successors 
constituted it a privilege, and the pontiffs considered 
themselves as the dispensers of crowns. During the 
whole of the middle ages, the imperial consecration 
could only be given at Rome, and from the hands of 
the Holy Father. More than one war arose out of this 
prerogative. 

The Empii-e of the "West even did not limit the views 
of Charlemagne. In the hope of placing on his head the 
crown of the East as well as that of the West, he sent 
ambassadors to Constantinople to demand the hand of the 
widowed empress Irene; but on their arrival they foiind 
that Nicephorous had usurped the throne, and those envoys 
were dismissed by him with indignity; an insult which 
Charlemagne retaliated by treating the usurper's ambas- 
sadors in a similar fashion three years later at Selz. 

Piratical Descents of the Normans.— In extending the 
outposts of his empire as far as the Eyder, Charlemagne 



64 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD III, 

thouglit to have sliut out from Germany the men of the 
north. But a new enemy sprung uj) in the Normans, a 
people who dwelt on the northern shores of the Baltic, 
and who, under the conduct of a brave leader named 
Godfrey, manned their ships and made a piratical descent 
upon Friesland in 808. The emperor led an army against 
them, but finding this new enemy more powerful than 
he exj)ected, he prudently made peace and returned 
home. 

-Results of the Wars of Charlemagne. — Some writers 
have sought to represent Charlemagne as a royal sage, 
a pacific prince, who only took up arms in self-defence. 
Truth compels a mare faithful though less flattering 
portraiture. He had no invasion to dread. The Saracens 
were scattered, the Avars (Bavarians) weakened, and the 
Saxons impotent to carry on any serious war beyond their 
forests and marshes. If he led the Franks beyond their 
own frontiers, it was that he had, like so many other 
monarchs, the ambition of reigning over more nations, 
and of leaving a high-sounding name to posterity. All 
that he attempted beyond the Pyrenees proved abortive. 
It would have been of greater value had he subdued the 
Bretons, so far as to have made them sooner enter French 
nationality, instead of contentiag himself with a precarious 
submission. The conquest of the Lombard kingdom 
profited neither France nor Italy, but only the Pope, 
whose political position it raised, and whose independence 
it secured for the future. The country for which those 
long wars had the happiest result, was that one which 
had suffered most from them, Germany. Before Charle- 
magne, Almayne was still Germany — that is to say, a 
shapeless chaos of pagan or Christian tribes, biit all bar- 
barian, enemies of one another, united by no single tie. 
There were Franks, Saxons, Thuringians, and Bavarians. 
After him there was a German people, and there will be 
a kingdom of Germany. It was great glory for him to 
have created a people — a glory which few conquerors 
have acquired; for they destroy much more than they 
found, His reign lasted foi'ty-four years, and may be 



768-919.] LOUIS THE EEBOXNAIRE. C5 

summed up as an immense and glorious effort tobi-ing under 
subjection the barbarian world and all that Avliicli survived 
the Roman civilization; to put an end to the chaos born 
of invasion, and to found a settled state of society in which 
the authority of the Emperor, closely united to that of the 
Pope, should maintain order alike in Church and State — . 
a very difficult problem, which it was given Charlemagne 
to solve, but of which all the difficulties did not become 
apparent iintil after his death. The work of Charlemagne, 
in fact, did not last, and the causes of its fall will shortly 
be shown. The name of this powerful though rude genius 
is not the less surrounded with a lasting glory ; and it has 
remained in the memory of nations with that of three or 
four other great men who have done, if not always the 
greatest amount of good, at least have made the most 
noise in the world. As to Charlemagne, the amount of 
good accomplished very far surpasses that which was only 
vain renown and sterile ambition. He created modern 
Germany; and if that chain of nations, the links of which 
he had sought to rivet, broke, his great image loomed over 
the feudal times as the genius of order, continually inviting 
the dispersed races to emerge from chaos, and seek union 
and peace under the sway of a strong and renowned 
chief. 

Charlemagne died, January 28, 814, in his seventy- 
second year, and was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle, in a 
church which he had built there after his Italian con- 
quests, in the Lombard style. Eginhard, his secretary 
and friend, who wrote his life, tells us that he was con- 
siderably above six feet in height, and well proportioned 
in all respects, ex.cejpting that his neck was somewhat too 
short and thick. His imperial crown, which is still 
preserved at Vienna, would fit only the head of a giant. 
His air was dignified, but at the same time his manners 
were social. Charlemagne had no fewer than five wives; 
of his four sons, only one survived him, Louis, the youngest 
and most incapable, who succeeded him on the imperial 
throne. 

Louis the Debonnaire — Dismemberment of the 



Ci(j HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD III. 

Empire (814-840). — Tlie Carlovingian race, after having 
produced, by an example A^ery rare in liiatory, four great 
men in succession, seemed suddenly to lose its power. 
Louis, the Debonnaire, was far from resembling his 
ancestors. The glory of that line liad departed with 
Charlemagne. That great man had, indeed, been able to 
found a great empire; but it was not within his power 
to give those races of diflerent oiigin, language, and 
customs, interests and feelings in common — that is to say, 
one and the same desire to remain imited in a single and 
gi'eat political family. There was material, but no moral 
unity. But mateiial order is not security. In moral 
unity alone subsists soundness and strength. When 
Charlemagne disappeared, all that which had coloured 
with a semblance of honour the subjection of the nations, 
blended together under the name of Franks, became 
eftuced. Whilst the private ambition of the princes of 
the imperial family aided the dismemberment of the 
nations, those of the great pi'oprietors and the imperial 
officers likewise favoured the division of fiefs. 

Charlemagne himself had recognised the necessity ot 
giving satisfaction to the nationalities the most dee^Jy 
concerned, and he had made his three sons kings. Louis 
was set over the Aquitanians, Pepin over the Italians, 
Charles over the Germans. The two last named died 
before their father, and that partition was annidled. 
Later, Charlemagne alloted Italy to , Bernard, son of 
Pepin. It was the great emperor's intention that those 
kings should only be his docile lieutenants; and so they 
were as long as he lived. But when the strong hand 
which, grasped that sheaf of nations relaxed in death, it 
broke asunder of itself. The nations desired to have 
kings, but kings of independence. To repress such 
ambitious desires, an energetic will was required, and it 
was to one of the feeblest of men that the unwieldy 
inheritance of the powerful master of the West had 
fallen. 

Louis the Debonnaire, so named from his gentleness 
and good-nature, was then thirty-six years old. He was 



76S-010.] LOUIS THE DEBOXNAIRE. 67 

pious and \ipriglit, but liis piety was that of a uioiik, not 
of a king, and his justice easily degenerated into weak- 
ness or even cruelty. His exterior, however, was very 
remarkable. He has been represented by contemporaries 
as of handsome person, with fine features, robust of 
frame, and so well skilled with boAv and lance that none 
of his subjects could equal him. But he was imbecile in 
mind and purpose; and his surname plainly proves that 
he was easily led away. In sense and Judgment le De- 
honncdre was, unhappily for himself and his subjects, 
miserably deficient. Such a sovereign was not fitted to 
maintain the vast empire of his father. The greatest 
misfortunes of his life, however, assailed him by the hands 
of his children. 

Louis began his reign by acts of reparation, which 
must have seemed to the old counsellors of Charlemagne 
an abandonment of the imperial rights. He restored to 
liberty and their possessions a host of individuals who 
had been deprived of both. He gave back to the Saxons 
and Frieslanders the right of heirship; and allowed the 
Romans to institute a new pope in 816, without waiting 
for the imperial confirmation. When Stephen IV. after- 
wards came from Rome to consecrate him, he svifiered that 
pontiff to pronounce those words which revealed the desire 
of the Holy Chair to appropriate to itself the right of dis- 
posing of the imperial crown: "St. Peter glorifies himself 
in making you this gift, because you assure him the enjoy- 
ment of his free rights." 

Louis does Penance for putting out the Eyes of his 
Nephew, Bernard. — In the following year Louis associ- 
ated with himself in the empire his eldest son, Lothaire, 
His two younger sons, Pepin and Louis, he made kings 
of Aquitania and Bavaria. The unhappy monarch soon 
became aware of his utter incapacity to manage the affairs 
of the empire; and, four years after his accession, weary 
of his burdensome dignity, and full of remorse for the 
crime which he had committed in causing the eyes of his 
revolted nephew, Bernard, king of Italy, to be put out, 
he proposed to abdicate in favour of his sons, But the 



68 HISTORY OP GERMANY, [PERIOD III. 

pope and clergy were too fiilly aware of the advantage 
afforded them by his inefficiency to permit siich a step; 
and so completely was he terrified by their threats, that, 
instead of retiring into a cloister as he had desired, he 
was obliged to content himself with doing open penance 
before the Diet of the empire for the cruel treatment of 
his nephew. It was a grand spectacle, assuredly, that of 
a powerful prince publicly avoAving his sins, and redeem- 
ing them by penitence. That spectacle Theodosivis had 
presented to the Roman people; bnt, after having hum- 
bled himself in the cathedral at Milan, Theodosius had 
risen vip stronger in his own eyes and in those of the 
people, because it was before Heaven and tinder remorse 
of conscience that he had bowed his head. Louis went 
forth from the palace of Attigny lessened, degraded, 
because it was from a political body, of an authority the 
rival of his own, that he had received his absolution. 
Every one knew thenceforward all that might be dared 
against such a man. 

Rebellion of the elder Sons of Louis (829).~In 823 
there was born to the emperor, of Judith his second Avife, 
a son named Charles, known in history by the surname 
of the Bald. That queen was desirous that her son 
should possess a kingdom; and the emperor, annulling 
in 829 the partition of 817, gave him Germany, thus 
depriving his elder sons of a part of their inheritance. 
This provoked the resentment of those princes; they rose 
in rebellion against their father, and the rest of Louis's 
reign was nothing but a succession of impious contests 
with his turbulent sons. In 833 he deposed Pepin, and 
gave his kingdom of Aquitaine to the son of Judith. 

Deposition of the Emperor by his Elder Sons. — Twice 
deposed himself, and twice restored after doing penance 
a second time at Soissons, Louis only emerged from the 
cloister, for which he was so well fitted, to repeat the 
same faults. In his blind predilection for his youngest 
born, Chai-les, he was unmindful that the cause of all his 
misfortunes was the redistribution of the partition he 
had made between his other sons. Afterwards, Louis 



7t)S-9i9.i DEPOSITION OF THE EMPEROR. C9 

had Germany, wliile Burgundy, Provence, and Sejiti- 
niania, were given to Charles, Pepin predeceased his 
father in 838. Dissatisfied with the share allotted to 
Charles, Louis took up arms to enforce his rights. But 
the life of his father, which had been one long scene of 
turbulence and misery, was rapidly drawing to a close. 
The emperor had collected his forces, and marched to the 
banks of the Rhine to meet his unnatural son, when 
mortal sickness compelled him to halt on the island of 
Ingelheim. The priests, who were called to administer 
the last rites of the Church, besought him to forgive his 
rebellious child, as he himself hoped for forgiveness at 
the hands of his heavenly Father. " Freely," said the 
poor old man, "freely do I foi'give him all his offences 
against me; but, reverend fathers, fail not to warn him 
that he has brought down my grey hairs with sorrow to 
the grave." Soon afterwards he became speechless and 
expired, uttering an inarticulate sound, to scare away, as 
his superstitious attendants believed, the fiends Avhich 
hovered round his bed. Thus died Louis, the degenerate 
son of a great father, on the 20th June 840, in the sixty- 
third year of his age, and twenty-seventh of his reign. 
The Middle Ages, more regardful of the virtues of the 
man than of the faults of the prince, have been full of 
indulgence for the memory of Louis the Good-natured. 

Battle of Fontenaille (841). — Since the death of 
Charlemagne the empire which he founded had heaved 
with agitation, like a heavy body in the throes of dissolu- 
tion. Each prince struggled for the possession of a king- 
dom; and each great division of the empire was desirous 
of having a king in order to form a state by itself The 
Austrasian Franks, who were only defending their own 
cause in sustaining that of the empire, were seconded by 
the Italians, who had adopted the new emperoi's as the 
legitimate heirs of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan. Lothaire, 
eldest son of Louis the Good-natured, was their chief. He 
boi-e the title of emperor, and desired to consider his 
brothers merely as lieutenants. Louis, now the second 
brothel', sided with Charles; and theii' subjects, at length 



70 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD III. 

wearied witli tliese perpetual divisions, met to decide the 
question solemnly by force of arms. A terrible battle 
"svas fought near Fontenaille, in Burgundy, in wliicli 
100,000 men are said to have fallen, and the forces of 
Lothaire were ntterly routed (June 841). Lothaire fled 
precipitately, whilst Louis and Charles deliberated upon 
what ought to be done further against the defeated 
enemy. Though the victory remained to Chai'les, his 
army was too much enfeebled to reap further advantage 
from it. Indeed, that fatal day so weakened the empire 
generally that bands of Normans, like famished wolves, 
renewed their predatory attacks, and were allowed to 
ravage the coasts with impunity. 

The Strashurg Oath. — The battle of Fontenaille hav- 
ing proved indecisive, the war continued. Louis and 
Charles met at Strasburg to reinforce their confederacy 
against Lothaire, and swear alliance before their soldiers, 
the one in the Teutonic or German tongue, the other in 
the Romance or French language. The Sti-asburg oath 
is the earliest monument of the French language, formed 
by the combination, in very unequal quantities, of three 
idioms — Keltic, Latin, and Gallic, as spoken in Gaul; 
the Latin greatly predominating over the Gallic, and the 
Keltic furnishing only a small number of words. That 
renewed alliance was celebrated by military fetes, to 
T/hich some writers have attribiited the origin of tourna- 
ments. 

The Treaty of Verdun (843) ; Hepartition of the 
Empire. — It being evident that Louis and Charles had 
firmly resolved to rend asunder the empire, Lothaire 
decided to treat v/ith them. The three brothers met at 
Verdun in Lorraine, and concluded the celebrated treaty, 
by which the dominions of Charlemagne were divided 
into three portions. The three principal peoples of the 
empire, the Germans, Gallo-Franks, and Italians, were 
thus sejDarated for ever; the fii'st under Louis, the second 
under Charles, and the third under Lothaire. The eldest 
brother, Lothaire, obtained the title of emperor, a dignity 
without power, with Italy, Helvetia, and a narrow strip 



/'GS-OIO.] KINGS OF THE CAULOVlNGJAX EACli;. 71 

of land -westwcird of the E-hine, that part of Austrasia or 
eastern France, which, from the word Lotharhigia, or., 
land of Lothaire, is now called Lorraine. Charles iha 
Bald had the title of King of France, with all the terri- 
tory west of Lorraine; and Lonis (surnamed the German) 
i-oceived for his share the whole of Germany, with the 
title of king. This treaty reduced Gaul by one-third, and 
rcnioved from it, for the first time, its natural limit of 
the Rhine and the Alps. Nor conld the efforts of Fi'ancis 
I. and Henry II., of Richelieu and Louis XIV., of the 
KeA'olution and Napoleon I., entirely nullify it. Chaiies 
the Bald, Avho signed that fatal-convention, Avas therefore, 
to speak correctly, the first king of later France, as Louis 
v.-as first king of Germany. As for Lothaire, he con- 
tinued the kingdom of Italy, which was destined so often 
to become extinct and to revive. Thus was the dismem- 
berment of that ponderous empire of Charlemagne rent 
asunder, and the unity of Christian Europe dissolved by 
the treaty of Verdun. Lorraine, it is true, became after 
a time incorporated with the other portions; but France 
and Germany, from that day to the present (except diiring 
the short reign of Charles the Fat) have been separate 
kingdoms. The province of Lorraine has been, for many 
centuries, and even up to the present time, an apple of 
discord betvv^een Germans and Frenchmen, and the cause 
of sanguinary wars amongst them, 

German Kings of the Carlovingian Race (843-911). — 
Louis the German was an athletic prince, tall and of 
handsome exterior, with a bright eye and peneti-ating 
intelligence, favourable to civilization and the sciences, of 
which he gave proof by founding chairs of eloquence at 
Frankfort and Eatisbon. But he had many wars to 
sustain for the preservation of his kingdom, on account 
of the frequent incursions of the Sclavonians on the east, 
and the Northmen or Danes on the north-west. The first 
and greatest, but not the only embarrassment to Louis 
was the inroads of the Normans {Northmen), a fierce 
piratical race, as savage as their seas and coasts, who had 
taken advantage of the perturbed state of the late dis- 



72 IIISTORV OF GERMANY. [PERIOD 111. 

luembered empire to cany on tlieir ravages without inter- 
mission. Launching their swift-sailing galleys from the 
shores of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, they swept 
down with the speed of the wind to the mouths of i-ivers, 
and often penetrated \ ery far into the interiors. Thus, 
on the Seine they ascended as far as Paris; on the 
Garonne as far as Toulouse; and on the Rhine as far as 
Cologne and Bonn. In their earlier depredations they 
never sought to acquire territory, but contented themselves 
with pillaging and destroying everything near the coast, 
and then sailed back to their own country with the booty; 
but after these sea-robbers had learned the use of horses, 
to which it appears they were at first unaccustomed, th'.iy 
were enabled to carry their inroads to a very considerable 
distance, and spread terror into the very heart of the 
country. They usually appeared in small numbers, 
because, in fact, a fleet of small vessels could not carry a 
lai-ge army; but, by their courage, added to the strength 
of their bodies and their arms, these men of the North 
prevailed over every other people, and none could ri\'al 
them in brandishing their heavy spears. So great was 
the teiTor caused by these maraxiders that a petition for 
Divine protection against them was added to the litany 
of the German church : A furore Nortmannoruin, libera 
nos Domine ! " From the fury of the Northmen, O Lord 
deliver us ! " Every year they attacked Friesland ; and 
one of their princes named Rollo established an indepen- 
dent kingdom in that part of France which is still called 
Normandy. In the interior of Germany the i-ebellious 
Sclavonian tribes Avere kept in check by the nobles; but 
on one occasion, it is recorded, the Saxons and Thur- 
ingians allowed the barbarians to get the better of them, 
for which they were soundly cudgelled by their wives on 
their return home. 

Louis the German died in 876, having governed his 
kingdom with great Avisdom and pi-udence. He left his 
dominions among his three sons, Carloman, Louis, and 
Charles; and he had scarcely been consigned to his tomb 
ere Charles the Bald marched an army into Germany in 



768-919.] CHARLES THE FAT. 73 

hopes to dispossess his nephews; but he found them well 
prepared to defend their territories; and, in a battle 
fought at Andernach on the Rhine, he was repulsed and 
l)ut to flight. 

Charles the Fat (876-887).— The two elder sons of 
Louis having died without legitimate issue, the youngest, 
Charles, surnamed the Fat, found himself in possession of 
the whole of Germany and Lorraine; and in 884 the 
French, dissatisfied with their young king, Charles the 
Siin2)le, whom they considered as too young to succeed to 
the crown, being only five years old, and anxious to have 
a prince who could protect them against the repeated 
invasions of the Danes, offered him the crown of France; 
thus the two kingdoms were, for a short time, reunited 
under one sovereign. Proiid and cowardly, and rendered 
contemptible by his gluttony, Charles the Fat was so 
regardless of his French subjects that lie did not go near 
them, but left them to defend themselves as well as they 
could against the Normans. He had already ceded Fries- 
land to Godfrey, one of their chiefs, and afterwards 
caused him to be murdered. Another, the famous Eollo, 
a man of gigantic stature, who always fought on foot, 
being unable to find any horse capable of carrying his 
weight, took Pvouen, Pontoise, and slew the Duke of 
Mans. On the approach of his countrjanen, the old 
pirate Hastings hastened to join them, and both together 
marched upon Paris, which they had already thrice pil- 
laged. But Paris, which was then contained within the 
narrow limits of the little island on the Seine, had been 
strongly fortified; and its inhabitants, encouraged by their 
bishop, Gozlin, and by their count, Eudes, son of Robert 
the Strong, withstood a year's siege. At length, Charles 
the Fat, at the earnest instance of Eudes, appeared before 
Paris with an army. The Parisians, fvill of ardour, were 
awaiting the signal to begin the battle, when they learned, 
to their gi-eat disgust, that Charles had purchased a dis- 
graceful peace by paying a large sum of money to the 
pirates, whom they had half- conquered, and further, 
allowed them to winter in Burgundy; that is to say, to 



74 HISTORY OP GERSIANV. [PERlOD III. 

ravage that province. The Parisians, however, refused 
to join in the disgraceful treaty; and when the Norman 
galleys sought to clear the bridges, they opposed their 
passage. The pirates were, therefore, compelled to drag 
their flotilla a long way ashoi-e past the heroic city (Nov. 
886), whose courage Sens in turn imitated, for it braved 
the Normans during six months. 

Deposition and Death of Charles the Fat (887-888). 
— The contrast between the courage of that small city 
and the cowardice of the emperor tiirned every one 
against that unworthy prince. He was deposed at the 
Diet of Tribnr, near Oppenheim, became insane, and 
would have wanted the necessaries of life had it not been 
for the compassion of Liutbart, bishop of Mainz. The 
wretched Charles the Fat died in 888. From that period 
Germany, Italy, and France, have never had a common 
master. The Carlovingian empire was irrevocably dis- 
membered, its relics forming seven kingdoms: France, 
Navarre, Burgundy (cis-Jurane), Burgundy {trans- Jurane), 
Lorraine, Italy, and Germany. Three quarters of a 
century only had elapsed since the vaiilts of his basilica 
at Aix-la-Chapelle had entombed the body of the famous 
founder of the West, and already neither empire nor 
emperor remained. 

Arnulph (887-899). — Each nation now elected its own 
king. In Germany Charles the Fat was succeeded by a 
natui'al son of his brother Carloman, a gi'andson of Louis 
the German, Arnulph (or Arnoiild). Arnulph was a 
brave and worthy king. He defeated the Normans near 
Lou vain, in the Low Countries, where they had formed 
an entrenched camp; and that victoiy spread his reputa- 
tion throughout Germany; for the Normans were the 
bravest warriors of all the northern races, and until then 
they had never been known to flee before an enemy. 

War with Zwentibold. — About the same time, Zwen- 
tiljold, having erected for himself in Moravia a great 
})ower, Arnulf, to gain his friendship, gave him the duchy 
of Bohemia to hold in fief, and even chose him as god- 
father to his son, also named Zwentibold. He had soon, 



708-919.] ARNULPII CROWNED EMPEROR OF ROME. 75 

however, to sustain against that Sclavonian prince, wlio 
sought to be independent, a very dangerous wax-. Arnulph 
had then recourse to the Magyars, called by the Germans 
Hungai-ians (strangers), or Huns; being, as it was be- 
lieved, descendants of the ancient people who bore that 
name. These barbarians, who were still heathens, had 
first been called in by Leo, Emperor of the East, to assist 
him against the Bulgarians. They had since migrated to 
the West, and, having entered Moravia, overthrew the 
jjower of Zwentibold, and established themselves therein. 
Arnulph crowned Emperor of Rome (895). — At the 
invitation of the Pope, Arnulph marched into Italy, where 
several princes were contending for the imperial crown. 
He took Bergamo by storm, and penetrated as far as 
Borne; but his army was so weakened by bad weather 
and sickness that he dared not venture to assault a city 
so strongly fortified; and hearing, moreover, that the 
King of France was marching against him, he was com- 
pelled to return into Germany. The next year, however 
(896), he again crossed the Alps and marched to Borne, 
where he found the city gates closed against him. Every 
attempt to storm the w^alls provmg fruitless, and the 
Pv.omans having overwhelmed the German soldiers with 
insults, Arnulph was about to retreat; when the soldiers, 
Avithout waiting for orders, in an excess of rage, attacked 
the gates, bridged the moats, scaled the ramparts, and 
cariied the Eternal City by assault. Entering Bome in 
triumph, Arnulph received the imperial crown from the 
hands of the Pope. It was compulsory upon the Boman 
people that they shoTild swear fidelity to him. But that 
l^eople Avere strangers to the virtue of fidelity; and 
because they had been xmable to i-esist the Germans by 
overt force, they had recourse to poison. Arnulph, 
attacked by sudden sickness, returned to Germany, Avhere 
he died, in 899, of a lingering malady, the effect, doubt- 
less, of slow poison administered by the Italians; re- 
gretted by all Germany, and much too soon for his 
empire. He w^as yet young, and never had the country 



76 HISTORY OF GERMANl'. [PERIOD III. 

Extinction of the Carlovingians in G-ermany (911). 
— The successor of Arniilph was his son Louis, suruamed 
the Child, a boy of six years old, who bore the title of 
King of Germany from 899 to 911. Those were, pro- 
bably, the most deplorable years in the annals of the 
nation. Every year, almost, the Magyars threw them- 
selves suddenly and in mass upon one province or other, 
wrapj)ing it in blood and fire, and carrying back with 
them thousands of the inhabitants as slaves. The Ger- 
mans, although brave, not being accustomed to that kind 
of war, were unable to defend themselves ; the more so 
that they had no fortified cities in which their women 
and children could seek refuge. Bavaria was the first to 
become a prey to their devastations; its counts and 
nobles were cut to pieces. In the following years it was 
the turn of Saxony and Thuringia; and, in the two last, 
tliat of Franconia and Suabia. These misfortunes exem- 
l)lified the truth of the words of Solomon : " Woe unto 
the land the king of which is a child ! " At length, for- 
tunately for himself and for his country, Louis the Child 
died in 911. With him expired the race of the Carla 
vingians in Germany, and the monarchy became elective. 

Conrad L of Franconia (911-918). — On the death of 
Louis the Child the chief magnates of the German race 
met together to choose from amongst their worthiest 
princes him to whom should be given the title of king. 
Their choice fell upon Otto tlie Ilhcstriozcs, Duke of 
Saxony and Thuringia, descended from the Carlovingians 
on the maternal side, and who, by the power of his house, 
as well as by his great age and wisdom, was held in high 
consideration by all the rest. But Otto refused the 
crown, the burthen of which he judged to be too heavy 
for a man of his years, and advised them to choose 
Conrad, Duke of Franconia. 

Conrad has been represented as a j^iince of great merit 
in peace and war : brave, prudent, gentle, and generous. 
His first care was to restore to royalty its vanished pres- 
tige, regarding it as the first foundation of order for the 
whole empire. But at fii'st the disorder was too great, 



768-919.] CONRAD I, OF FRANCONIA. 77 

and, besides, his reign was too short for him to succeed 
completely. However, by energetic measures and timely 
concessions, general tranquillity and the imperial dignity 
were partially maintained. But Conrad saw clearly that 
his task had become very difficult, that the power of the 
Duke of Franconia alone was insufficient to keep in 
check the great princes, already become too powerful ; 
and that larger forces than he could command were neces- 
sary to protect the empire against the Sclavonians and 
Hungarians, who incessantly recommenced their inva- 
sions. When, therefore, Conrad, who had been wounded 
in his last expedition into Bavaria, lay languishing at 
Limbourg, upon the Lahn, and felt the approach of 
death, he remembered the example which Otto the Illus- 
trious had given him ; and, putting aside all rivalry, with 
his last breath recommended as his successor Henry of 
Saxony, whom he believed to be the only prince capable 
of holding the reins of government in those troublous 
times. He died in December 918. 



FOURTH PERIOD. 

FROM HENRY I. TO RUDOLPHUS OF HAPSBURG. 

(919-1273). 

{The Saxon, Sioahian, and Hohenstaufen Houses.) 

Henry I., surnamed the Fowler (919-936). —The 
accounts left us of the election of Henry are widely 
varied. If we follow those of the ancient writers, it 
Avonld appear that the princes and nobles of Franconia, 
following the advice of Conrad their late king, assembled 
at Fritzlar, at the commencement of the year 919, and 
chose for their king Duke Henry, in presence of the 
united Saxons and Eranconians. It is true that a great 
many writers relate how the envoys who went to oflfer 
Henry the crown found him in lais territories of the 
Harz, occupied at the moment of their arrival with snar- 
ing birds; from a fondness for which pastime he obtained 
the surname of the Foivler {Henricus Aiccej^s). Whatever 
may have been the circumstances of his election, the 
Archbishop of Mainz offered to consecrate him King, but 
Henry declared it was sufficient that he was called to 
rule over Germany by God's grace and the choice of the 
people; and, therefore, he entreated the prelate to reserve 
the holy oil for some more pious monarch. 

Lorraine reunited to Germany (922). — Some internal 
dissensions troubled the beginning of his reign, but 
proved of little consequence; for the hopes of Otto the 
Illustrious and King Conrad were fulfilled, and Saxony 
and Franconia remained in amicable relation with one 
another. The dukes of Swabia and Bavaria, on their 
return from Hungary, refused him obedience; but he 



919-1273.] NINE YEARS' TRUCE WITH HUNGARIANS, 79 

recalled them promptly to tlieir duty by foi'ce of arms, 
and retained tliem in it by the gentler power of words 
of peace, so that, in 921, all Germany obeyed King 
Henry; and after that date his empire was no further 
troubled by any intestine war; but it was only after 
fighting several battles that he conquered Lorraine, which 
always kept balancing between France and Germany. 
Later, he strengthened his union with it by giving his 
daughter, Gerberge, in marriage to its duke, Giselbert; 
and, during seven centuries, that fine country remained 
reunited to Germany. 

The Nine Years' Truce with the Hungarians (923- 
932). — Henry was then able to occupy himself with his 
enemies -without the realm, the Sclavonians and Hunga- 
rians. They thought themselves able to continue their 
manoeuvres with the German states as formerly; but 
found, on their rencontre with Henry, an adversary who 
arrested them. On the first occasion, it is true, Henry 
was compelled to give way to their fury, and they carried 
their ravages into the heart of Saxony. However, he 
had the good fortune, one day when he made a sortie 
upon them from the castle of Werle, near Goslar, to takt 
prisoner one of- the most distinguished of their princes; 
and, for his ransom, a suspension of arms was agreed 
irpon for nine years, during which the Hungarians swore 
that they would not enter Germany. Probably they 
reckoned upon doubly recuperating themselves for the 
time thereby lost; but Henry employed so usefully those 
nine years in active prepai-ations to meet the enemy, that 
when they returned, they found Germany quite changed. 

The Hungarians were entirely ignorant of the art of 
besieging fortified places; and when they were unable 
to make a rapid booty in an expedition, they did not 
willingly return. It was especially in his hereditary 
territories that Henry caused the fortresses and walled 
towns to be strengthened; for, accustomed to despise any 
defence save that of their swords and shields, the Ger- 
mans had suffered the few strongholds they possessed to 
fall into ruin. But, in order to garrison those places, he 



80 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

decreed tliat eveiy niiitli man liable for military service 
should leave the cultivation of the soil, and join in the 
defence of the fortresses; that he should therein occupy 
himself with all the constructions necessary to offer, in 
case of invasion, a secure asylum; and that the rest 
should give for that purpose, annually, a third of their 
agricultural produce, to be stored as provision for the 
gai'rison in time of danger. 

Frontier Campaigns (928-929).— Henry, after having 
passed some years in these preparations, resolved, in 
order to exercise his warriors, to reduce to reason the 
peoples bordering on Germany to the north and east; 
who, if they were not as formidable as the Hungarians, 
were not less hostile. He defeated the Sclavonians in 
the marches of Brandebourg, the Hevelles upon the 
Havel, and conquered Brennabourg (Brandebourg), which 
he besieged during a winter so severe that his army 
encamped upon the frozen Havel. He afterwards sub- 
dued the Daleminziens who dwelt on the banks of the 
Elbe, from Meissen as far as Bohemia. Henry under- 
took also an expedition against the Bohemians, besieged 
their Duke Wenzeslas in Prague, his capital, and forced 
him to submission. Since then the kings of Germany have 
always demanded homage from the dukes of Bohemia. 

Sanguinary Conflict with the Hungarians (933). — 
Meanwhile, the nine years' truce with the Hungarians 
had expired, and they sent a deputation into Germany 
to demand the ancient tribute which that country had 
shamefully paid them. Bu.t Henry, to show them in 
what contempt they were held by the Germans, sent to 
the deputies, by way of tribute, a mangy dog, with ears 
and tail cropped. It was an ancient custom, exceedingly 
insulting to those who received the gift. The bellicose 
Hungarians grew furious at it, and made their prepara- 
tions to wreak a tei'rible vengeance. Onward they 
marched next year (933) into Germany with two armies, 
thirsting for battle. One force, attacked by the Saxons 
and Thuringians, not far from Sondershausen, had its 
leadex'S slain, and was itself cut to pieces. The other 



919-1273.] EXPEDITION AGAINST THE DANES. 81 

and the strongest force, on reaching the Saalc, learned in 
the night the arrival of the king, and the destruction of 
their compatriots. The Hungarians, terror-stricken at 
the news, abandoned their camp, and lighted huge fires 
on the heights as signals to reassemble those who were 
dispersed in search of pillage. Henry, who overtook them 
next morning, having exhorted his soldiers in a few fiery- 
words to avenge that day their devasted countrj^, kins- 
men massacred or carried into slavery, unfurled before 
them the banner of the Archangel Michael, and charged 
the Hungarians with the cry of Kyrie eleison (Lord have 
mercy !) which was echoed back by the terrible Iltd ! 
Hid! of the barbarians. After a bloody conflict the 
whole army of the invaders was either slain or put 
to flight; and Henry, falling on his knees, with all his 
soldiers, offered up a solemn thanksgiving to Heaven for 
the victory. The anniversary of this deliverance from 
iiie Hungarians is still celebrated in the parish church of 
Keuschberg, and the name of King Henry acclaimed 
therein by all those assembled. 

5 J Expedition against the Danes (934).— In 934, Henry 
covered himself with glory in an expedition against the 
Danes, who were ravaging the coasts of the Frisons and 
Saxons. He entered their country at the head of his 
army, forced their King, Gorm, to make peace, established 
at Sleswig a strong barrier, and even founded a mar- 
graviat, which he peopled with a colony of Saxons. One 
of the members of the royal family was even converted to 
Christianity; either Knut the eldest, or perhaps Harold, 
the second son of Gorm. Thus Henry I., before the end 
of his glorious career, had the satisfaction of seeing those 
men of the North, who during a century had terrified 
Europe, retreat before him within their confines, and 
recognise his power. 

In the summer of 936, Henry went from Erfurth to 
Memleben. There he was struck a second time with 
apoplexy; and, after having taken farewell of his wife, 
he died, 2nd July 936, at the age of sixty, in presence of 
his sons and several prinees'of the empire. 

F 



82 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

Otho I., surnamed the Lion (936-973). — As, before 
deatli had closed tlie eyes of Henry, tlie princes in 
the Diet had promised to a.cknowledge Otho, his son, as 
his successor to the empire, nothing more was needed 
than to confirm that acknowledgment; and it was made 
in a great assembly at Aix, where Otho was solemnly 
crowned. He was then in his twenty-fourth year. Of 
lofty stature and truly regal appearance, wide-chested 
and vigorous, with well-opened and expressive eyes, and 
long fair hair falling over his shoulders, all seemed to 
announce that he was born to reign. 

Those days of feasts and ceremonies having passed, 
Otho soon proved, by the vigour of his government, that, 
in his case, exterior appearance was not deceptive. But 
Otho did not giiin over all hearts that power which his 
father had obtained. He was surnamed the Lion because 
of his proud and formidable mien, and because that, like 
the lion, he overcame all his enemies however numei'ous, 
and as often as they presented themselves, as well in the 
interior of Germany as without. He was a great and 
powerful monarch, who speedily became the first Christian 
jjrince. He placed upon his head the imperial crown of 
Charlemagne, and rendered the empire and the German 
name so great among all nations that none dared compare 
with him. An ordinary man never obtains such results; 
for if, in the Emperor Otho, too much pride made him 
many enemies; if, in his wrath, his too passionate tem- 
perament caused him to commit acts of severity against 
his adversaries, there was found also in him, as in the 
lion, to which he was compared, compassion for the weak- 
ness, and indulgence for the adversary who asked for 
pardon. For the rest, his anger and severity never car- 
ried him beyond the bounds of justice. The law with 
him was always stronger than everything else. 

Germany, which, previously to these two great mon- 
archs, was going rapidly to ruin, torn by intestine dissen- 
sions, and was without surrounded by enemies who 
despised her, devastated her by their rapine whenever it 
seemed fitting to them, now appeared suddenly to raise 



919-1273] OTIIO I. 83 

her liead like a new empire. Not only had enemies been 
overthrown, but countries had been conquered; and those 
who had held her in contempt now bowed their heads 
before her. Otho showed so much confidence in his strength 
that, even shortly after he had ascended the throne, in 
oi'der to devote himself entirely to royalty, he not only 
despoiled himself of the duchy of Saxony, but even gave 
it to the bravest warrior of his family, to Herman Bil- 
lung, who had greatly distinguished himself in the war 
against Boleslas, duke of Bohemia. Otho was content, 
therefore, to bear the single title of Emperor of Germany; 
a title, doubtless, very far greater than that of duke, when 
the bearer knows how to make it respected by the lofti- 
ness of his genius; but also much more insignificant and 
without real j)ower if deficient in character to rule. The 
dignity of a German King and Emperor rested on public 
esteem, his poAver depended upon the people, his grandeur 
was founded xipon the prestige with which the imperial 
dignity invested him; and that veneration which, when 
the Emperor possessed it, rendered him the greatest sove- 
reign in Christendom. Otho thought that he might 
acquire it and preserve it by himself. In truth, at the com- 
mencement of his reign, many nobles revolted against 
him; even his half-brother, Tancmar, and Henry, his 
3'ounger brother, who believed that he had more right 
than himself to the imperial dignity, because he was born 
when his father Henry was already King; whilst Otho. 
on the contrary, was born when his father was as yet 
only duke. But the Franks and Lorrainers, who could 
not bear that a Saxon should possess the crown, were 
pacified only by dint of arms; Tancmar was slain in the 
fight; and Henry, who had made common cause with them, 
came to throw himself at his brother's feet in penitential 
garments, at Frankfort, on the Christmas day of 942, 
during midnight mass, and received a full pardon, 
although he had thrice revolted against him, and had 
even attempted his life. Still further, Otho gave him 
that same year the duchy of Bavaria, which was vacant; 
and after that they remained faithfully ixnited until death. 



Si HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

The Duke of Boliemia also bade defiance to tlie Empe- 
I'or ; whilst, to add to his embarrassment, the old enemies 
of the empire, the Hungarians, encouraged by these 
appearances of disaffection, entered the south of Germany, 
which they ravaged as far as the frontiers of France. 
But the new sovereign proved himself worthy of the con- 
fidence which his renowned father, as well as the electors, 
liad reposed in him; and the Duke of Bohemia was at 
length subdued after a war which had lasted nearly 
fourteen yeai-s. 

roreign Wars of Otho. — Having thus settled the in- 
ternal affairs of his kingdom, Otho had leisure to carry 
on his operations against the Sclavonians and Danes, who, 
after long and sanguinary wars, were made tributaries to 
the German crown ; but scarcely had these enemies been 
overcome when he was called to take a parb in the affairs 
of Italy. That unhappy country was now in a state of 
indescribable confusion. Since the extinction of the 
Carlovingians, mimerous pretenders to the sovereignty 
had everywhere caused disorder and ruined the countiy. 
Berengar, duke of Ivrea, had by violence possessed him- 
self of regal authority; and, to strengthen himself in it, 
had striven to compel the young and beautiful widow of 
the last King, Lothaire, whom he had himself jjut to 
death, to become the wife of his son Adelberg. Adelaide 
firmly refused, and seized a favourable opportunity to 
take flight. But, having already reached Como, she was 
overtaken and brought back. Willa, the infamous wife 
of Berengar, struck the noble daughter of the Burgundian 
kings, trod her under foot, dragged her by the hair of 
her head, tore off all her ornaments, and afterwards had 
her thx'own into a diingeon of a strong fortress on the 
Lago di Garda. From this captivity she was rescued by 
the exertions of a pious and faithful monk, named Martin, 
who, touched by her sufferings, undermined the founda- 
tions of the castle until he reached her prison, released 
the princess, and conveyed her in a fisherman's boat 
across the lake. For some time she wandered up and 
down the opposite shore in the most pitiable distress, 



919-1273.] VICTOEY OVER THE HUNGAKIANS. 85 

travelling by night and concealing herself by day among' 
reeds or standing corn ; until at length she reached the 
cottage of a fisherman, where she remained for some days 
disguised in male appai'el; whilst brother Martin hastened 
to seek succour from her friends. The margrave, Azzo, 
hurried to place her in safety, and carried her to his castle 
of Canossa, Avhieh was immediately attacked by her cruel 
persecutor; and the besieged, terriiied at the appearance 
of a force so much superior to any that they coiild raise, 
at once decided on calling in the assistance of Otho, and 
sent messengers to offer him the crown of Italy, and the 
hand of the widowed queen. Nothing conld be more 
acceptable to Otho than this proposal; for the death of 
his wife Edith, daughter of Edmund, King of England, 
had left him at liberty to contract another marriage ; and 
no alliance could be more advantageous than one which 
would make him lord of the fair realms of Italy. A 
persecuted woman to deliver, and so grand a prize attached 
to that adventurous attempt, were motives more than 
sufficient to excite to enthusiasm the chivalrous spirit of 
the Emperor. He therefore crossed the Alps in 951, raised 
the siege of Canossa, and, carrying off Adelaide in 
triumph, married her at Pavia, where he caused himself 
at the same time to be crowned King of the Lombards. 
He afterwai'ds became reconciled with Berengar, and 
gave him Italy as a fief under the suzerainty of Germany. 
Victory over the Hungarians on the Lech (955). — On 
his return to Germany with his young bride, Otho cher- 
ished the belief that peace and ti-anquillity were estab- 
lished on a basis which might bid defiance to the assaults 
of disafiection. But these hopes were miserably frus- 
trated. The old enemies and devastators of Germany, 
the Hungarians, iinited with the Sclavonians, became 
anxious to try whether they could not prove more fortu- 
nate with the son of Henry the Fowler than they had 
been with the father. They found, moreover, a favour- 
able opportunity in the dissensions and internal troubles 
excited by Otho's own son, Ludolph, di.ike of Swabia, 
discontented at his father's marriage with Adelaide, and 



86 HISTORY OP GEKMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

his kinsman Conracl, duke of Frailconia and Lorraine, 
who forgot themselves so far as to invite the Hungarians 
to enter the country. Eor some time Ludolph carried on 
this unnatural stiife in conjunction with the Archbishop 
of Mainz, and Conrad, son-in-laAV of Otho; but at length, 
Avearied of war and despairing of success, he suddenly 
appeared before his father barefoot, and in the dress of a 
penitent; and, throwing himself on his knees, implored 
forgiveness. Otho readily pardoned him, but took away 
his dukedom, and sent him into Italy to fight against the 
rebellious Lombards. 

In the following year the Hungarians again entered 
Germany in countless numbers, and took up a position 
near Augsburg; and Otho, fully aware of the danger with 
which he was threatened, prepared to meet it by calling- 
out the whole militia of Germany. The Emperor pitched 
his camp on the banks of the Lech in Bavaria. Fortu- 
nately for Otho, he was joined by Conrad, duke of Fran- 
conia, who had asked and obtained pardon for his crime 
of rebellion, and marched with so much the more valour 
at the head of a well-trained body of cavalry against the 
enemy. The army was divided into eight corps; the 
three first composed of Bavarians, the foin-th of Fi'anks 
led by Conrad; Otho himself commanded the fifth divi- 
sion of picked troops, who, as a body-guard, had chai'ge 
of the sacred spear — formed out of the nails of the Cross, 
or, according to some legends, the Aveapon itself with 
which the soldier pierced our Saviour's side — and the 
banner emblazoned with a figure of the Archangel 
Michael. The Swabians composed the sixth and seventh, 
and with the eighth were 1000 picked horsemen to guard 
the baggage. No attack, therefore, was expected on that 
side. But scarcely had the Hungarian army made its 
appearance than its innumerable battalions developed 
themselves in order of battle, swam across the river, and 
rushed upon the camj) in the rear of the army, threw the 
Bohemians and Swabians into disorder, and pillaged the 
baggage. Otho, seeing this, ordered Duke Conrad to 
cliarrve the enemy in front with his Franconian cavalry, 



9i9-1273.i OTTO MARCHES INTO ITALY, 87 

an order so well and vigorously carried out, that the 
baggage and prisoners were speedily retaken, and order 
established in the camp. Next day the general engage- 
ment began in earnest; the Germans, in the highest 
spirits, commencing the attack, and Otho, encouraging 
his men, gave the signal for the onset, and, in the thickest 
of the fight, performed prodigies of valour. Though the 
Hiuigarians fought fiercely, a great and important victory 
was achieved; but not until thousands and tens of thou- 
sands were slain, and the Lech was tinged with their 
blood, did they at length give way. The Germans con- 
tinued the pursuit during the two following days; and 
the villages in which they sought refuge being set on 
fire, most of them were burnt to death. Three of their 
princes were hanged as leaders of brigands; and we are 
told by Keza, one of their OAvn annalists, that out of two 
divisions, mustering 60,000 men, only seven Hungarians 
escaped, and they Avith slit noses and ears, to tell their 
countrymen of the terrible disaster which had befallen 
the army. The third division could not have avoided a 
like fate if Otho had not been too soon called ofi" the 
pursuit, and obliged to make a diversion against the 
Sclavonians. The Germans were so transported at the 
bravery of their monarch that they hailed him on the 
field by the titles of " Emperor and Father of his country." 
After all, the victory was dearly purchased. The heroic 
Conrad, oppressed with the heat, having removed his 
armour for air, was mortally wounded in the neck by a 
spent arrow. The Bishop of Ratisbon, although severely 
wounded, had strength enough left to strike down a 
Hungarian who was beginning to strip him, and thus 
preserved his Kfe. After that great victory the Hunga- 
rians never dared to meet the Germans in a pitched battle. 

The Sclavonians, being also reduced to obedience that 
same year, Germany had rest once more. 

Otho Marches into Italy and Deposes Berengar (962), 
— Otho's rebellious son, Ludolph, had been sent into 
Italy to chastise the Lombard prince Berengar, who, un- 
mindful of his oath, had thi'ov/n ofi" his allegiance to the 



88 IIISTOilY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

German crown. Luclolpli, after reducing Iiis enemy to 
the greatest extremities, having fallen a victim to the 
insalubrity of the climate, the treacherous Lombard again 
rallied, and treated with cruelty all who refused to 
acknowledge his authority. By the invitation of these 
sufferers, Otho again entered Italy, marched into Pavia 
without opposition, and, having deposed Berengar, was a 
second time crowned King of Italy. From Pavia. he 
went to Rome, where he received the imperial crown 
from the hands of the Pope, on the 2nd February, 962. 
Dating from this reign, the imperial crown, which had 
been alternately worn by the kings of France, Germany^ 
and Italy, belonged exclusively to Germany, which then 
took the name of the Holy German Empire. 

Otho Demands a Greek Princess for Ills Son. — During 
his last sojourn at Rome the Emperor caused his son Otho 
to be crowned by the Pope; at the same time he sent an 
ambassador to Constantinople to demand for his son the 
hand of Theophania, the daughter of the Greek Emperor. 
The ambassador, Liutprand, bishop of Cremona, fai'ed so 
badly, and met with such insufferable insults at Constan- 
tinople, that he was glad to escape, he tells us in his 
journal, from that '* perjured, lying, cheating, rapacious, 
greedy, avaricious, nasty city,'' Not long after, however, 
Nicephorous having perished during a sedition, his succes- 
sor hastened to make an alliance with the imperial house 
of Germany. Theophania was crowned at Rome in 972 by 
Pope John XIII., and married to the young Otho. The 
Emperor returned that same year into Germany; and, 
having enjoyed some months' repose after his campaigns, 
Otho the Great terminated in serenity his glorious career. 

He died suddenly as he knelt before the altar in the 
church of Memleben, and so tranquilly, that the attendants 
who found him stretched on the pavement supposed at 
first that he was asleep. His body was interred in the 
church of St. Maurice at Magdeburg, his favourite city, 
by the side of his first wife, Edith of England. 

Otho II. (973-983).— Otho, surnamed the Red, on 
ascending the imperial throne, was in his nineteenth 



919-1273.] lothaire destroys an army under otho. 89 

year. It was a misfortune for that young prince, other- 
wise possessed of not a few good qualities, to have suc- 
ceeded so great a man as his father whilst still in boy- 
hood. After the death of his brother Ludolph, he had 
become haughty and dissipated; and, by his conduct, 
gave proof of great fickleness of character; at times show- 
ing high-heartedness and elevation of mind, whilst at 
others he exhibited the most singular weakness and 
poverty of idea, 

Lothaire, King of France, destroys an Army under 
Otho (975). — In the second year of his reign, France 
made the first attempt, which was more than once re- 
peated afterwards, of reannexing Lorraine, which the 
partition of Verdun had placed between France and Ger- 
many, but which was then claimed by the latter. The 
pretensions of Otho the Red to regain every fief of the 
empire, rallied round the King of France the great vassals 
of several countries, whose sole tactics then centered in 
hindering, either in France or Germany, the return of 
the ancient imperial power; which had compelled them to 
fall back from the path on which they had advanced in 
the way of usurpations from the time of Charlemagne. 
Lorraine stood in this predicament. Lothaire, then king 
of France, claimed a part of Lorraine in right of his 
mother; and the nobles of that country summoned him 
to oppose Otho. Without waiting to declare Avar, Lo- 
thaii-e marched dii'ectly upon Aix-la-Chapelle, where the 
young Emperor kept his court. Otho was taken so com- 
pletely by surprise that he was obliged to rise from table 
where he was sitting at dinner, and monnting a swift 
horse, escaped out of one gate as Lothaire and his army 
entered at another. Lothaire stripped the palace of 
everything in it worth carrying off; and, having turned 
the golden eagle on the roof with its head towards France, 
then retraced his steps. Otho, biu-ning with resentment 
against Lothaire, set out for Paris, " to return the visit," 
as he expressed it, devastating and ravaging everything 
as he went. 

Paris had been put in such a thorough state of defence 



90 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

that Otlio was unable to effect anything against it. Aftei' 
burning the suburbs he was comj)elled, therefore, to march 
back into Germany. But his retreat proved disastrous. 
He had reached unopposed the river Aisne, which he 
crossed with a part of his army late at night. In the 
morning it was found that the water had risen so con- 
siderably that it was impossible for the second division 
to pass. In this position it was attacked by Lothaire; 
and Otho, from the opposite shore, saw his men put to 
the rout without being able to give them any assistance. 
It was a great thing for Lothaire to have thus made head 
against the Emperor, and destroyed almost entirely his 
army, 60,000 strong. Some time after this struggle a 
treaty of peace was made between the two cousins, and 
Otho consented to give up Lower Lorraine or Brabant to 
Lothaire and his brother Charles, to be held as a fief of 
the empire. 

Otho Defeated by the Greeks and Saracens in Cala- 
bria (982).~In 980 Otho passed into Italy with the 
intention of seizing upon certain possessions which the 
Greek emperors then were holding in the south, aiid over 
which he considered that he had rights through his wife, 
Theophania, her father having promised them, as the 
dowiy of that princess. Whilst on his marcla south- 
wards, a Boman, named Crescentius, having caused him- 
self to be proclaimed consul, murdered the Pope (Boniface 
VI.), and set up Boniface YII. in the holy chair. The 
imperial party resisted this nomination, and elected 
another Pope. Otho, thinking himself bound to inter- 
fere in these commotions, marched to Borne and restored 
order, but in a sufiiciently treacherous and ruthless man- 
ner. Having invited all the principal Bomans who had 
abetted Crescentius to a banquet in the space before St. 
Peter's Church, he caused to be seized and put to death 
all whom he suspected of being his enemies. He then 
marched against the Greeks, who summoned to their aid 
the Ai-abs of Africa and Sicily. At first, Otho obtained 
some advantages over them, and seized upon Tarentum; 
but; becoming too much emboldened by success, he 



919-1273.] REBELLION OP DUKE HENRY OP BAVARIA. 9i 

allowed himself to be drawn into an ambuscade ; and, 
being attacked by tlie united forces of the Greeks and 
Saracens near Basantello in Calabria, his army was com- 
pletely cnt to pieces. Tides, duke of Franconia, several 
piinces and nobles, with Henry, bishop of Augsbourg and 
Werner, abbot of Foulques, were left on the field of 
battle. The emperor, by the luckiest chance, saved him- 
self by swimming his horse across the river, and got on 
board a Greek vessel belonging to the enemy; but, being 
soon recognised, he again escaped by swimming, landed 
near Rossano, and found himself, as by a miracle, once 
more amongst his followers. He died at Rome the fol- 
lowing year, of grief and disappointment, it is said, at the 
age of twenty - eight, in the midst of preparations for 
avenging his defeat (983). 

Otho III, surnamed the Prodigy (983-1002).— Otho 
III., son and successor of Otho II., was only three years 
old when his father died; and his infancy would have 
proved very fatal to Germany had Theophania not known 
how to govern prudently chiring his minority, and if, 
whilst mother and son Avere in Italy, Adelaide had not 
held the reins of emjoire with the same ability as her 
daughter-in-law. Enemies hovered all round the empire, 
and the grasping Lothaire thought it a favourable moment 
for conquering Lorraine. He had already taken the town 
of Verdun, when, perceiving the accord which reigned in 
Germany, he renounced his project and renewed the peace. 

Rebellion of Duke Henry of Bavaria. — The first inter- 
nal danger which threatened the realm arose from the 
renewed attempt of Duke Henry of Bavaria on the 
crown of Germany. That rebellious vassal audaciously 
made himself master of the young Emperor's person; bu^t 
the princes, on whose aid he had counted, held aloof from 
his treason, declaring that, as they had already sworn 
fidelity to Otho, they would not violate their oath. Left 
thus single-handed in rebellion, the duke's heart failed 
him, and he hastened to provide for his own personal 
safety and the possession of his duchy, by surrendering 
the young King and renewing the oath of allegiance. 



92 HISTORY OF GERMAi^n^ [PERIOD IV. 

Education and Character of the Emperor. — Otto had 
been carefully taught the rudiments of education by his 
mother, and afterwards the rapid progress he made in his 
studies under the tuition of the celebrated French abbot 
of Magdeburg, Gerbert, gave lively promise of a brilliant 
future career, and earned for him the surname of the 
Prodigy. At fifteen, he had become so well versed in 
general knowledge that it was thought advisable he should 
assume the reins of government. The refined culture 
implanted by Gerbert, the most accomplished scholar of 
his time, seems to have afiected his imperial pupil with 
a distaste for the rude and coarse manners of his German 
subjects, and inclined Otho to adopt the manners and 
customs of the Greeks; among the rest, to eat alone at a 
table raised a little higher than that at which his courtiers 
sat, and to bestow upon them posts of honour, like the 
Greeks and Romans. He thus sought to induce his 
Saxons to get rid of their rustic coarseness, and to fashion 
themselves more closely approaching to the standard of 
Grecian delicacy. The I'esult was that on being called 
into Italy, in 996, to apjiease a fresh revolt of the Romans, 
the Eternal City pleased him so much that he conceived 
the idea of making it the capital of his empire, which 
would have changed the entire face of Europe. He 
placed in the pontificial chair Gerbert, his tutor, under 
the name of Sylvester II. But the Romans recompensed 
him badly for his inclination towards them ; for whilst he 
was dwelling in their midst in the greatest security, as he 
imagiaed, with a small number of Germans only, they 
revolted and kept him shut up during three days in his 
palace, without food or drink, demanding with savage 
clamour that he should resign the crown. Then the young 
Otho felt that the fidelity of the Germans and their virtues, 
rude as they were, transcended in value the unctuous 
words and polished manners of the Italians. Bemaixl, 
bishop of Hildesheim, who had been the first tutor of 
the Emperor, stationed himself with his sacred lance at 
the principal gate of the palace, and thundered terrible 
anathemaa against the rebels, as the writer of his life 



019-1273.] HENRY II. 93 

tells us; iintil at length tlie Emperor was rescued from 
the hands of the Romans by the resolution of that bishop 
and the aid of Duke Henry of Bavaria and other princes. 
Crescentius, who had joined two insurrections, although 
he had sworn allegiance to Otho, threw himself into the 
Castle of St. Angelo, where he was besieged, and, after an 
ineffectual resistance, taken prisoner and beheaded. 

In the following year (1002), whilst occupied with pre- 
jiai-ations for chastising his ungrateful Eoman subjects, 
Otho died, aged twenty-two, at Paterno, of a spotted fever, 
or, as some chronicles affiriii, of poison given him by his 
misti-ess, Stephania, the beautiful widow of Crescentius. 
Thus suddenly cut off, his name may be added to those of 
many princes over whose early fate their subjects have 
mourned and generously persuaded themselves that death 
cut short the development of the highest vii-tues. All 
the male descendants of Otho the Great, or the Lion — his 
two sons, Ludolf and Otho II., and his two grandsons, 
Otho III., and Otho, son of Ludolf — died in Italy in the 
flower of their age; so that of the imperial Saxon family 
there only remained Duke Henry of Bavaria, great- 
grandson of Henry the Fowler, and son of that duke 
who had attempted to wrest the croAvn from Otho in his 
infancy. Thus, over and over again, armies from one 
side of the Alps have crossed the mountains, to conquer 
indeed as long as conquest was a matter of swords, pikes, 
or guns, but to be conquered as soon as the land itself 
and its climate had time to work a fitting vengeance. 
Some lost their lives, some their health, some their energy 
and military discipline. 

Henry II., surnamed the Saint (1003-1024).— The Ger- 
mans were not at all favourable to that Bavarian family 
of which Henry was the head; but as it had with it, 
because of its liberalities, all the clergy, and possessed all 
the treasures of the empire, it readily won over all the 
German peoples, one after another; so that each of them, 
even withoiit assembling in Diet for the elections, agreed to 
transfer to him the imperial dignity with the sacred lance. 

Henry merited the surname of Saint by the tenor of 



94 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD lY. 

a pious and severe mode of life, and by liis well-known 
liberality to the clergy. The latter bad acquired great 
possessions under the Saxon emperorSj who bad all sbown 
tbemselves very generous towards that body, and, by 
encouraging the usurpations of the spiritual nobility, its 
chief members had become very powerful princes. The 
German kings, following the example of Charlemagne, had 
seen with pleasure their power increase, being desirous of 
opposing it as a counterpoise to that of the magnates; 
thus at that period they were most frequently in agree- 
ment with them. Bernard of Hildesheim, who had shown 
himself so resolute at a moment when danger menaced 
Otho III. at Rome, was a man of elevated mind, and who 
testified a singular zeal for the progress of the arts and 
sciences in that dark age, and for everything that could 
legitimately advance the nation, 

Henry obtains the Crown of Lombardy (1004). — The 
Emperor Heniy received in Italy a second surname, that 
of the Lame (Ilufehok). For after the death of Otho III. 
a fresh revolt having taken place in Italy, and a margrave, 
one Ardouin, having been made king, Henry went thither 
in 1004 to re-establish order. Ardouin, being put to 
flight, Henry caused himself to be crowned at Pavia with 
the iron crown. To conciliate that city, and show respect 
to its inhabitants, he had taken with him only a small 
escort, and had encamped the rest of his army outside the 
walls; when suddenly the Italians, with their usual incon- 
stancy, broke out into insurrection. They rushed towards 
the palace to slay the Emperor; and it was then that 
Henry, compelled to leap from a window, contracted a 
lameness. His guards, though few in number, bravely 
withstood the attack upon the palace long enough for the 
German troops outside the city to scale the walls, and, by 
a vigorous combat, save their Emperor. 

Henry, himself both faithful and loyal of heart, con- 
ceived so great an antipathy to the Lombards, through 
the treachery of Pavia, that he could not be persuaded to 
remain longer in Italy, and therefore returned to Ger- 



91 9- 1273.] THE HOUSE OF FRANCONIA. 95 

troubles; foi- lie had not of liimself sufficient power to 
make himself fittingly respected. Much of his life, there- 
foi'e, was spent in alternate wars Avitli the Italians, Poles, 
and Bohemians. 

Henry Crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIIL 
(1013). — Early in 1013, Henry went a second time into 
Italy to re-establish Pope Benedict VIII. ; he swore to 
pi'otect him faithfully, and was crowned hj him. The 
last years of his life were wholly occupied with founding 
the bishopric of Bamberg, the city of his predilection; he 
endowed it richly, and hoped that it might serA^e as a 
testimony of his j^iety ancl that of his wife Cunegonda. 
Henry died in 1024 at the castle of Grone, near Gottingen, 
which was often the residence of the Saxon Emperors. 
With him ended the Saxon dynasty, Avhich, like that of 
the Carlovingian, had begun Avith A^ery great power and 
ended still more feebly than the former. Germany once 
more needed a strong-minded and far-sighted sovereign to 
preA^ent her decay, and from losing consideration in the 
eyes of other nations; for, during the long minority of 
Otho and the reign of Henry II., the great vassals had 
been suffered to make numerous usurpations OA^er the 
imperial rights. The sons of nobles, enriched by gifts of 
the empire, Avere confirmed in their possessions, as fully 
as though they held them by hereditary right. There 
were eA^en several contests on this subject Avhich were not 
settled AAdthout bloodshed, and it was especially the south 
of Germany that Avas torn by those wars. Nevertheless, 
the number of Christian countries in Avhich the imperial 
dignity Avas respected at the same time as the authority of 
the church Avas considerably enlarged. Towaixls the year 
1000, which, according to traditional belief, Avas to be the 
last that the Avorld would ever behold, and Avhen Avarriors, 
laying aside their arms, endeavoured by prayer and 
penance to prepare themselves for the day of judgment, 
Christianity spread itself in Hungary, Poland, Russia, 
NorAvay, SAveden, and Denmark. 

The House of Tranconia (1024-1125).— Conrad II., 
surnamed the Salim (1024-1039).— The different German 



96 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

peoj)les assembled to clioose a new Emperor, eacli with 
its duke, upon the banks of the Rhine, between Mayence 
and Worms, at Oppenheim. The majority was in favour 
of the house of Franconia, and of that house two princes, 
both named Conrad, were preferred to the rest of the 
candidates by the consideration they enjoyed from their 
good qualities. Count Conrad the Elder, called the Scdian, 
as being, by tradition, descended from the Merovingians, 
and Conrad the Younger, were sons of two brothers, 
descendants of Conrad the Wise, kinsman of Otho I., who 
perished in the battle fought against the Hungarians on 
the banks of the Lech : both were worthy of their ancestor, 
and were allied, on the maternal side, to the imperial 
house of Saxony. 

When the election was about to commence, Aribon, 
archbishop of Mayence, who had to give the first vote, 
named Conrad the Elder, and the archbishops and 
bishops who followed imitated Aribon; whilst among 
the temporal piinces it was the lot of the Duke of Fran- 
conia (Conrad the Younger) to vote first. The latter rose 
up, and with loud voice chose his cousin. Coni'ad the 
Elder took him by the hand, embraced him affectionately, 
and placed him by his side; whilst the other princes 
approved, with the exception of only two dissentient 
voices, and the people applauded their assent. 

The new Emperor was then conducted to Mayence foi' 
the purpose of being solemnly consecrated and crowned 
there. During the progress to the cathedral, the proces- 
sion was detained a long time by a crowd of petitioners 
who demanded justice of the new sovereign. Conrad 
listened graciously to all the supplicants, and remarked to 
the bishops, who showed some dissatisfaction at the delay : 
" The first of my duties is to render justice, however haixl 
may be the task." These words were heard with the 
liveliest pleasure, and thenceforward great hopes were 
placed in the new Emperor, hopes which Conrad later 
justified. He began his reign by making a progress 
through his dominions, dispensing justice, re-establishing 
ordei-, and showing everywhere a just seventy united 



919-1273.] THE HOUSE of fkanx'onia. 07 

■\vitli sucLi active goodness, that it was said of him that no 
king since Charlemagne had so well merited to be seated 
on his throne. 

■ Whilst he thus governed his interior dominions, he 
laboured with the same success for the grandeur and con- 
sideration of Germany abroad. (Shortly after his accession, 
he visited Italy (1026), was crowned King of that country 
at Milan, and at Rome as Emperor on Easter- day of the 
year following, two sovereign princes being pi-esent at the 
ceremony: Rudolph III. of Burgundy and Canute the Great 
of England and Scandinavia. With the latter Coni'ad 
inaugurated a firm friendship which lasted during a cen- 
tury amongst their descendants, his son having espoused 
Canute's daughter, Cunihilda, and settled with him the 
boundaries of Germany and Denmark, so that the river 
Eider, which flows between Holstein and Sleswick, should 
separate the two kingdoms. It is true that he lost by 
such arrangement the margraviate of Sleswick; but it 
was a country very difiicult to defend, and Conrad, more- 
ovei-, made acquisitions which compensated for its loss. 

Henry II. had already made anteriorly with his uncle 
Rudolph, King of Burgundy, who had no child, a treaty 
by which Burgundy should be reunited to Germany after 
his death. Conrad renewed that treaty; and, when 
Rudolph died, he took possession of his kingdom, although 
a party of Burgundians had summoned to oppose him the 
powerful Count of Champagne, Odo, whom, howevei', he 
humiliated, and forced to acknowledge him as King of 
Burgundy {Gis-Jurane). That kingdom which now com- 
prehended the fine provinces of the south-east of France, 
since called Provence, Dauphiny, Eranche-Comte, the 
Lyonnais, Savoy, and a part of Switzerland, thus placed 
Germany in communication with the Mediterranean by 
the important ports of Toulon and Marseilles — a mag- 
nificent acquisition, which, later, rnader the feeble Empe- 
rors, was neglected, and fell into the power of the French, 

Under the Emperor Conrad was established for the 
first time an institution by which the Church, whose 
power had long become superior to all other, endeavoured 

G 



9 a HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

to bridle tlie tyranny of brute force. In other words, to 
lessen the evils caused by the continual wars of the nobles 
with one another, the Church proposed the following pact, 
and enforced its adoption upon several princes : — From 
Wednesday evening at sunset to Monday morning at 
sunrise of each week, or on any festival of the Church, 
and during Advent or Lent, all fighting to cease, no swoi'd 
to be unsheathed. This pact was called " the Truce of 
God " {treuga or treva Dei), and whosoever should dai'e to 
break it incurred inevitably the pain of excommunication. 
"This league, which came first into operation in 1034, after 
several years of terrible famine and all the other scourges 
which accompanied it, was organised in Burgundy and 
Lorraine by the clergy, and chiefly by Odillon, abbot of 
Cluny; and thence it soon spread into France and Eng- 
land. Its operation lasted some fifty j^ears, and obtained 
throughout all Christian countries, proving highly bene- 
ficial and reflecting great honour on the ecclesiastics and 
princes who promoted and enforced it. 

During Conrad's second expedition into Italy, whither 
internal dissensions, and especially the arrogance of Heri- 
bert, the haughty Bishop of Milan, called him, in 1037, the 
plague decimated his army and carried off tlie Emperor's 
Idnsman, Hermann of Swabia, as well as the young wife 
of his son, Henry, the King of Denmark's daughter. 
Conrad himself was attacked by the same malady, which 
proved incurable, and of which he died after his return to 
Germany, 4th June 1039, at Utrecht, and was buried in 
the cathedral at Spires. His wife, Giselle, one of the 
most distinguished princesses of Germany, who loved him 
tenderly, refused all consolation, and lamented his loss 
until her death in the convent of Kaufungen, near Cassel. 

Conrad II. did not hesitate to make public his inten- 
tion of carrying out what may be called the cardinal idea 
of the Salian family; namely, to get rid, as for as possible, 
of everything which limited the imperial pov/er ; of 
restraining, on the contrary, that of the magnates within 
narrow bounds, and, in order to attain that two-fold 
object, to win by every kind of favour the holders of the 



919-1273.] THE HOUSE OF FRANCONLi 99 

smaller fiefs. This lie did by rendering those fiefs here- 
ditary, providing that every fief, not held immediately 
from the crown, should be regularly transmitted from 
father to son; that all delinquent vassals should be tried, 
not as heretofore by the insoleiit coercion of the great 
feudal lords, but by a jury of men of their own rank; and 
that in the case of his feeling aggrieved, any vassal might 
ajipeal from his lord to the Emj^eror. This was a decided 
step towards the emancipation of the smaller vassals, who 
had become little better than the slaves of the powerful 
lords. Such was the important law promulgated by 
Conrad in 1037, first in Italy and afterwards in Germany. 
At the same time he strove to bring back the princes, 
and more especially the dukes, to their ancient status in 
relation to the empire — to that of functionaries. He 
even succeeded in bestowing by degi-ees the A^acant duchies 
of Bavaria, Swabia, and Carinthia on his own son Henry, 
which he looked upon as subservient to the execution of 
the grand scheme of rendering the imperial crown all- 
powerful; and if he had succeeded, Germany would early 
have been what Erance was later — a single and pov/erful 
realm. But the Salian family was arrested in its career, 
as well by its own faults as by the puissance of the ponti- 
ficial chaii', which raised itself up with an astonishing- 
strength and promj^titude, and of which the potent Conrad 
II. was far from foreseeing the aggressive preponderance 
over his grandson. The Guelphs or Welfs are first heard 
of in this reign, and afterwards,, it will be seen, figure con- 
spicuously in the history of the empire. In the eleventh 
century, Azzo, Lord of IMilan and Genoa, became allied 
with a branch of this family by marriage; and at a later 
period his descendants, as well as the representatives of 
the German line, ^Yeve the founders of a political party in 
Italy and Germany, which rendered itself prominent by 
its support of the Popes, and its advocacy of Italian inde- 
pendence, in opposition to the Ghibellines, who took part 
with the Emperor. A descendant of the Guelphic house, 
George, Elector of Hanover, ascended the British thronQ 
on the death of Queen Anne in 1714. 



100 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

Henry III., surnamed the Black (1039-1056). — Hemy, 
tlie son of Conrad, though scarcely twenty-two years old 
at his accession, inspired, nevertheless, hopes which the 
future failed not to realise. Like his father, he possessed 
a genius for governing^ a resolute will, and a firmness 
exaggerated even to obstinacy. He was easy of speech, 
if not eloquent, and had early been well instructed by his 
mother, Giselle, chiefly by reading, though books at that 
time were very rare. 

No Emperor since Charlemagne more rigorously main- 
tained, and no one commanded with more authority along 
all the frontiers of his vast empire, order and enforced 
obedience both in Italy and Germany. He had early 
distinguished himself by crushing formidable insurrec- 
tions in Bohemia and Burgundy, but nothing contributes 
more to the martial glory of his reign than that he so 
humbled the outer barbarians of Hungary, who, for up- 
wards of a centuiy, had been the terror of the Germans, 
that the Magyar nobles, after a fierce battle in which 
they were defeated on the banks of the Raab, took the 
oath of fidelity (1044); and Peter, their King, restored to 
the rule of his country as a fief, did homage, and there- 
upon received from the hands of the young Emperor the 
gilded spear. 

Henry then jiassed into Italy to remedy the great dis- 
orders prevailing there. Three popes had been chosen at 
once by diflerent factions: Benedict IX., Sylvester III., 
and Gregory VI., each of whom claimed the obedience of 
the faithful. Henry convoked a council at Sutri, and 
after listening to the triple claims, he deposed all three 
as illegally aj^pointed, and placed a German in the ponti- 
ficial chair, Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, who took the 
name of Clement 11. The new Pope crowned Henry 
Emperor on Christmas day 1046. After Clement, Henry 
gave three more popes to the Pomans (for they had re- 
newed the promise, made previously to Otho I., to recog- 
nise no Pope without the approbation of the Emperor) ; 
all were bishops of Germany, chosen from amongst the 
most worthy and distinguished, 



019-1273.] tiENRY IV. 101 

Having determined to give up to other princes the 
German duchies he had hitherto hekl, Henry selected 
those who possessed the least power, and on whom he 
bestowed the title of duke, though not the ancient 
privileges attached to it. To Henry, of the House of 
Luxembourg, he gave the duchy of Bavaria, and after 
him to Conrad, one of the counts palatine; that of Carin- 
thia to Guelpli, son of Guelph, count of Swabia; and 
Swabia to Otho, count palatine of the Rhine. The house 
of Guelph was already powerful in Swabia, and would 
have well desired on that account to possess its duchy ; 
but it was precisely for that reason that Henry placed 
Count Guelph in Carinthia, unwilling that the Count's 
great patrimony should be situated in the duchy he gave 
him, which he moreover weakened by detaching the 
marches of Styria, Carniola, and Istria, and placing over 
them a Margrave. It was thus, from high political 
motives, that he disposed of the great dignities of the 
empire, whilst he favoured the hereditary succession of 
the small fiefs. It was he also who gave the duchy of 
Upper Lorraine to Albert of Longwy, one of the ancestors 
of Francis I., and consequently one of the chiefs of the 
present House of Austria. 

Henry died suddenly at Bothfeld, near Blankembourg, 
at the foot of the Hartz, whither he had gone to hunt, 
5th October 1056, in the flower of his age, being in his 
thirty-ninth year, and in the midst of great projects for 
the future. 

Henry IV. (1056-1106).— At the birth of his son, the 
princes had promised to Henry the Black to accept him 
as his successor; but, unfortunately, when the Emperor 
died the young prince was only in his sixth year. His 
education and the management of his empire were at first 
confided to the hands of his excellent mothei', Agnes; but 
it was soon seen that the regent-mother was quite unable 
to cope with the turbulent magnates in their attacks on 
the privileges of the crown and the liberties of the people, 
and consequently to complete the work of Henry III. 
On the contrary, she sought to strengthen her government 



i02 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

by winning over some by admitting tliem to offices of the 
highest trust and honour. Henry, bishop of Augsburg, 
possessed her entire confidence; but, stern and upright, 
a widespread feeling of envy and jealousy attended his 
attempts to counteract the evils by Avhich her regency was 
assailed. At the head of the malcontents was Hanno, 
archbishop of Cologne, a man ambitious and adroit, but 
of a rigid and severe disposition. This prelate, in order 
to obtain the regency, entered into a conspiracy to carry 
oflf the young King, and for that piir2:)0se repaired at 
Easter, 1062, to Kaiserwerthe, an island in the Rhine, 
where the Empress was then keeping her court. One 
day after dinner, Hanno persuaded the young prince, then 
twelve years old, to enter his pleasure boat with the view 
of inspecting a vessel of extraordinary size then building 
close by ; but, scarcely Avas he on board, when the sailors, 
at a sign from the archbishop, pulled from the shore and 
rowed towards the mainland. Perceiving that it was the 
aim of the conspirators to separate him from his mother, 
the terrified boy leaped suddenly overboard, and assuredly 
would have been drowned had not Count EgJjert of 
Brunswick plunged into the stream and rescued him. 
Again in the boat, the conspirators sought to pacify him 
by many and fair words, and so conducted him to Cologne. 
The bereft regent-mother thus finding that the German 
princes had no longer any confidence in her, announced it as 
her intention to seek repose in the quietude of the cloister. 
Hanno immediately proclaimed himself regent, and 
assumed the guardianship of the young Emperor; but 
that it might not appear as though he desired to have the 
sovereign power wholly in his hands, he procured a law 
to be passed appointing that Henry should reside succes- 
sively in the different countries of Germany, and that the 
bishop of the diocese in which he might be should tem- 
porarily have the tutelage of him, and therefore the 
government of the kingdom. It may readily be believed 
that, at the bottom of his heart, Hanno thought to exer- 
cise the greatest influence over the prince's mind, but 
he was not the sort of man to conciliate his afiection, 



919-1273.] HENRY IV. 103 

Hauglity, imperious, and severe, as during tlie penances 
of the ftither, the violent Henry tha Black, the prelate, 
feared not, it is said, to strike hard; so also in his treat- 
ment of the son, he hesitated not to exercise his functions 
Avitli equal rigour. Among the other bishops, on the 
contrary, was one of totally different character. As 
ambitious as Hanno, but dexterous and given to flattery; 
handsome of person and full of amenity — qualities which 
won over to him the young Henry so much the more 
easily that he allowed him to do exactly as he liked. 
This was Adelbert, archbishop of Bremen, a lover of 
luxury and pomp, and a jovial boon-companion also; no 
characters coidd be more opposite than those of the men 
who had taken upon themselves the charge of the youthful 
Emperor; for Hanno, well aware that there were many 
other magnates, scarcely less powerful than himself, who 
would probably dis^Dute Avith him possession of the sove^ 
reign's person, had craftily proposed to Adelbert that 
Henry should reside in his diocese at a subsequent period, 
and that the regency, meanwhile, should be administered 
by the two prelates conjointly. In their hearts these two 
ecclesiastics were the bitterest enemies, and agreed only 
in striving, each to the full extent of his power, to tyran« 
nise over and j^lunder the German empire. 

The young Henry, whose misfortune it was to fall into 
the hands of two guardians so unfit for the task v/hich 
they had undertaken, possessed a pliancy of disposition 
which rendered his character peculiarly susceptible of 
injury from the opposite but equally faulty systems pur- 
sued by his instructors. Whilst Hanno, by educating 
him as he would have taught the meanest chorister of his 
church, excited in his j^oung mind feelings of bitter hatred 
towards his severe taskmaster, Adelbert corrupted his 
morals by the dail}^ scenes of licentiousness which dis- 
graced the palace at Bremen. The first lesson inculcated 
was the dangerous one, that kings are accountable for 
their actions to none but God; the second, that the dukes 
of the empire, liis natural enemies, as he was told, were 
to be lumted down with as little remorse as wild beasts. 



104 HISTORY 0^ GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

The Saxons, witli whom Adelbert had long been at vari- 
ance, were nnceasingiy reviled, and a prejudice created in 
the mind of Henry which at a later period of his reign was 
the cause of much bloodshed and misery. 

The austere Hanno having made a journey to Rome, 
and remained long absent, the profligate Adelbert con- 
sequently became sole master of his imperial charge. 
Nothing could have been more pernicious for this young 
Emperor than to be subjected to the influence of tAvo men 
so diametrically opposite in character. From the most 
rigid severity, he suddenly passed to unrestricted license 
and the uncontrolled gratification of the senses. 

In 1063, the young Henry accompanied his guardian 
in an expedition against the Hungarians, and retui'ned 
after a successful campaign, more than ever delighted 
with his unprincijiled instructor. Two years later, being 
then fifteen years of age, he was girded with the sword of 
knighthood and declared a man. The Emj^eror now took 
up his residence at Goslar, in Saxony, where his court 
became a scene of the most undisguised and shameless 
profligacy. To support the exjienses of this court exac- 
tions were made on the inhabitants of the surrounding 
country, whose murmurs and remonstrances were treated 
with contempt. A financial crisis at length having been 
brought about, the princes of the empire assembled to 
deliberate upon the affairs of Germany, and resolved unani- 
mously that no choice should be allowed to the King except 
that of abandoning Adelbert or resigning the ci'own. 
Henry, unwilling to renounce his favourite, endeavoured 
to escape by night, carrying with him the regalia of the 
empire; but his enemies having surrounded the palace 
with a guard, his attempt was frustrated. A second 
council was then held, at which scenes of great violence 
were enacted, and the archbishop scarcely escaped being 
personally ill-treated by the enraged princes. At length 
it was resolved by a great majority that Henry should 
be compelled to dismiss his obnoxious favourite, renounce 
his profligate course of life, and marry Bertha, daughter 
of the Italian margrave of Susa, a woman of the most 



919-1273.] HENRY ir. 105 

estimable character, to wliom he had been in childhood 
betrothed. Yielding to necessity, Henry dismissed the 
archbishop, and retired with his bride to Goslar. Adel- 
bert being now exposed to the fury of his enemies, was 
robbed of all his possessions, and reduced to a state of the 
most abject poverty. 

Meanwhile Henry, thinking himself safe in his strong- 
hold of Goslar, returned to his usual dissolute life, and 
treated his wife with great cruelty. As in the case of most 
forced marriages, their union soon proved an unhappy one, 
and he sought to obtain a divorce; but the opposition of 
the Pope and the German princes proved fatal to the 
prosecution of Henry's suit; and, after a time, touched 
by the gentle patience with which she had borne his 
ill-usage, he began to treat her with as much affection 
as his dej^raved heart was capable of feeling; and was 
requited by finding in her the most constant of friends 
and wisest of counsellors. 

In 1069, Henry's evil genius, the Archbishoi) of Bremen, 
again appeared at Goslar, and by his evil counsels speedily 
embroiled his imperial master afresh with the Saxons and 
Bavarians. After a series of plots and insurrections, the 
Saxons concluded a peace with Henry at Gerstingen, the 
chief condition of which was that all the royal fortresses 
in Saxony should be put into their hands, and levelled 
with the ground — a work which they performed with 
disgusting brutality, particularly at the Hartzburg, where 
they disinterred and insulted the corpse of Henry's son. 
Aroused by this atrocity, the Emperor declared that he 
no longer considered himself bound by the conditions of 
the peace. The nobles wei^e now on his side, for they nad 
taken deep offence at the Saxons for having presumed to 
conclude a peace Avithout their sanction; and Heniy soon 
found himself at the head of a powerful army, with Avhich 
he encountered the enemy near the town of Langen-Salza, 
in Thuringia. The combat lasted the whole day, and, at 
its conclusion, the Saxons, who had lost 8000 men, sur- 
rendered to Henry, as their fathers had often done to 
Charlemagne, determined to burst the ohain as soon as a 



106 HISTORY OP GEKMANY. [pERtOD IV. 

favourable opportunity sliould occur for renouncing their 
forced allegiance. 

With Henry TV. commenced the interminable wars of 
the investitures, which, during two centuries, convulsed 
the Christian world. That Pope Hildebrand* was per- 
fectly justified in seeking to deprive the Emperor of an 
usurped right, of filling, through corruption or court 
favour, ecclesiastical dignities with the weakest and most 
vicious of men, will not be denied. Had not the Holy 
See interposed, religion itself would for ever have been 
attached to the imperial car, and, from a ruling power, 
converted into a slave. All the princes of Europe would 
have imitated the conduct of Henry; in fact, by some — 
by our William Hufus among the rest — it loas imitated ; 
and others were only waiting for the discomforture of the 
Pope, to seize on the revenues and entire administration 
of the Church. Had he triumphed, the regal and sacer- 
dotal characters would at length have been united; and 
Christianity would not have been at all superior to the 
religion of pagan Eome or Thibet. 

Erom this time to the reign of Rudolph I. the leading 
characteristic of Germaaa history is a struggle between the 
Emperors and the Popes : by the former to extend their 
influence, as well over the Germanic Church as over Italy; 
by the latter to prevent both. The late wearer of tho 
iron crown had displaced three contending popes, who 
were disturbing the peace of the city by their ferocious 
quarrels, and had appointed others in their room. There 
was no murmur of opposition to their appointment. They 

" * Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII. was the son of a Eoman 
blavlc-mith, or, according to other authorities, of a cai-penter in 
the small town of Soano, in Tuscany. Having risen to the highest 
offices of the Church by his talents, in the reign of Henry III. , 
he wasAnvitedtoEome by Leo XI., whose chancellor he became. 
Thenceforward, it was he who directed every action of that 
Po),itiff, his object being the elevation of the Poi^e above all the 
potentates of earth. To this end he devoted his whole life with 
so much wisdom and firmness, with such singular force and 
ability, that he must be ranked amongst the most extraordinary 
men of his time. He was elected to the papal chair in 1073, and 
assumed the title of Gregory VII. 



019-1273.] HENRY IV, 107 

were pioTis and vcuerable men; and of eacli of tliem the 
inscrutable Hildebrand Lad managed to make himself the 
confidential adviser, and in reality the guide and mastei-. 
Even in his own case, he waited patiently till he had 
secured the Emperor's legal ratification of his election, and 
then, armed with legitimacy, and burning with smothered 
indignation, he wrote an insulting letter to the Emperor, 
commanding him to abstain from simony, and to renounce 
the right of investiture by the ring and cross. These, he 
maintained, were the signs of spiritual dignity, and their 
bestowal was inherent in the Pope. The time for the 
message was admirably chosen, for Henry was engaged 
in a hard struggle for life and crown with the Saxons and 
Thuringians, who were in open revolt. Henry promised 
obedience to the Pontifi''s wish; but when his enemies 
were defeated he withdrew his concession. The Pope 
thundered a sentence of excommunication against him, 
I'eleased his subjects from their oath of fealty, and pro- 
nounced him deprived of his throne. The Emperor was 
not left behind in the race of objurgation, 

Henry summoned his princes and prelates to a council 
at Worms, and pronounced sentence of deprivation on the 
Pope. Then arose such a storm against the unfortunate 
Henry as only religious diflferences can create. Plis sub- 
jects laad been oppressed, his nobility insulted, his clergy 
impoverished, and all classes of his people were glad of 
the oi:)portunity of hiding their hatred of his oppressions 
under cloak of regard for the interests of religion. He 
was forced to yield; and, crossing the Alps in the middle 
of winter, he presented himself at the castle of Canossa. 
Here the Pope displayed the humility and generosity of 
his Christian character, by leaving the Avretched Henry 
three days and nights in the outer court, shivering with 
cold and barefoot, while his Holiness and the Countess 
Matilda (heiress of Boniface, the rich Margrave of Tus- 
cany), were comfortably closeted within. And after this 
unheard of degradation, all that could be wrung from the 
hatred of the inexorable monk was a promise that the 
suppliant should be tried with justice, and that if he sue- 



108 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [pERIOD IV. 

ceeded in proving liis innocence, Le should be reinstated 
on liis tln'one; but if be were found guilty, be sbould be 
punisbed witb tbe utmost rigour of tbe ecclesiastical law. 

Common sense and good feeling were revolted by this 
unexampled insolence. Friends gathered round Henry 
wben tbe terms of tbe sentence were beard. The Romans 
themselves, who bad hitherto been blindly submissive, 
were indignant at the presumption of their bishop. None 
continued faithful except the imperturbable Countess 
Matilda, the zealous partisan of the Pope, and to whom she 
had given secretly all her possessions. He was still to her 
the representative of divine goodness and superhuman 
power. But her troops were beaten and her money 
exhausted in the holy quarrel. Robert Guiscai'd, the 
Norman, indeed, came to the rescue, and rewarded himself 
for delivering the Pope by sacking the city of Rome. 
Half the houses were burned, and half the population 
killed or sold as slaves. It was from amidst the desola- 
tion his ambition bad caused that the still unsubdued 
Hildebrand was guarded by the Normans to the citadel 
of Salerno, and there he died, issuing bis ordei'S and curses 
to his latest hour, and boasting with his latest breath that 
" he had loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and that 
therefore he expired in exile." After tliis man's throwing 
off the mask of moderation iinder which his predecessors 
bad veiled their claims, the world was no longer left in 
doubt of the aims and objects of the spiritual powei'. 

None of the great potentates of Europe, however, was 
anxious to diminish a power which might be employed to 
his own advantage, and all of them by turns encouraged 
the aggressions of the Paj)acy with a short-sighted wisdom, 
to be an instrument of offence against their enemies. 
Little encouragement, indeed, was offered at this time to 
the spiritual despot. Though Hildebrand died a refugee, 
it was remarked with jdIous awe that Henry IV., his rival 
and opponent, was punished in a manner which showed 
the highest displeasure of Heaven. His children, at tbe 
instigation of the Pope, rebelled against him. He Avas 
conqviered in battle and taken prisoner by his youngest 



919-1273.] THE FIRST CRUSADE, 109 

son. He was stripped of all his possessions, and at last, so 
destitute and forsaken that he begged for a sub-chanter's 
Ijlace in a village church for the sake of its wretched 
salary, and died in such extremity of want and desolation 
that hunger shortened his days. For five years his body 
was lefb without the decencies of interment in a cellar in 
the town of Spires. 

The First Crusade (1096-1099).— Whilst the two 
Emperors Henry TV. and Henry V. were engaged in a 
violent struggle Avith the popes, an immense movement 
was now to take place in the European mind, which had 
the greatest influence on the authority of Rome. About 
the year 1090, the Turks, a horde of savage mountaineers 
from the Caucasus, who having driven the Saracens from 
Jerusalem, and become masters of the Holy Land, had 
defiled the sepulchre of Christ, and either carried oft' the 
Christians into slaveiy, or treated them with intolerable 
cruelty and oppression. The Greek Emperor, Alexis 
Comnenus, himself menaced by the Turks, encamped 
before Constantinople, filled all the courts of Christendom 
with his cries of disti-ess. But the danger threatening 
this last relic of the Roman empire fiiiled to arouse the 
Western Christians from their indifference. The first 
French Pope, Sylvester, had already addressed in vain an 
eloquent letter to the European princes, in the name of 
Jerusalem forsaken; and though at one moment the reso- 
lute Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) was desirous of placing 
himself at the head of 50,000 knights, to go to the rescue 
of the Holy Sej)ulchre, he was too much engaged in his 
disputes with the Emperor of Germany to bestow much 
attention to the complaints of his persecuted brethren in 
Palestine. That in which Emperors and Popes alike 
failed, was accomplished by a poor monk, Peter the Her- 
mit, who had lately returned from a pilgrimage to Jeru- 
salem, and who made all France ring with his pathetic 
recital of the treatment which the Christians there experi- 
enced from the Turks. At the Council of Clermont, 
summoned in 1095, a crusade against the enemies of the 
faith was proclaimed, and from all parts of Europe a great 



110 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

cry of approval was uttered in all tongues, for it hit the 
right chord in the ferocious and superstitioiis heart of the 
world; and it was felt that the great battle of the Cross 
and the Crescent was most fitly to be decided for ever on 
the soil of the Holy Land, 

As Germany was at that time wholly occupied with 
her internal dissensions and struggle with the popes, she 
took scarcely any part in this first movement. The sub- 
ject of the subsequent crusades, therefore, in which the 
German Emperors figured, will be treated of in their 
proper periods, 

Henry V. (1106-1125).— Henry soon found that the 
throne he had so basely usurped was not likely to reward 
him for the sacrifice of duty and conscience. Pope Pascal, 
in a council at Troyes, renewed the declarations against 
investiture, absolutely prohibiting every ecclesiastic, of 
whatever grade, to do homage to a layman. The menace 
was disregarded ; but Henry meditated open violence. In 
defiance of the Papal claim, he recommenced the struggle 
with Pascal II. on the subject of the imperial right of 
investiture by cross and ring. He was a more formidable 
enemy than his father, for he knew well hoAv to employ 
trick and duplicity in addition to force of arms. Early in 
the year 1110, Hemy, at the head of the most formidable 
army which for ages had passed the Alps, hastened to 
Rome. A solemn treaty was about to be concluded 
betAveen him and the Pope; but, when they came to the 
conditions, there arose on the part of the Italian and 
German bishops an angry opposition and long dispiite. 
In the midst of the disorder one of the German knights 
exclaimed : " What is the good of all this noise ? It is 
enough for you to know that our lord, the Emperoi", 
wishes to be crowned like those before him, both Charle- 
magne, Louis, and the rest." The Pope replied that he 
could not consent thereto until Henry had renounced by a 
solemn oath his right of investiture. Thereupon, Henry, 
upon the advice of his chancellor Adalbert, and Bui'chard, 
bishop of Munster, called in his guards, who made the 
Pope and the cardinals prisoners. This bold action pre- 



919-1273.] HENRY V. Ill 

cipitatcd an appeal to arms, Tlie Romans, furious at sucli 
violence, attacked, next morning, the Germans encamped 
ruund St. Peter's clinrch. The Emperor instantly leaped 
on his horse, rushed madly from the lower marble steps 
of the church iipon the crowd, and pierced five Romans 
v/ith his lance. But, being wounded, he fell from his 
horse. Otho, count of Milan, saved Henry's life even at 
tlic price of his own; for, promjDtly giving him his own 
steed, he fell into the hands of the Romans, who cut him 
in pieces. A murderous carnage was kept up all day, 
until towards evening the Emperor liimself excited the 
bellicose fury of his followers to a final onslaught. The 
Romans suffered a terrible defeat, one portion being 
hurled into the Tiber and another driven into the city, 
the Leonine quarter, with that of St. Peter remaining in 
the hands of the Germans. Henry, however, quickly 
abandoned the Eternal City, dragging with him his jpri- 
soners, to ravage the environs. The Romans, reduced to 
the extremity of famine, urgently supplicated the Pope to 
make peace with the Emperor. Pascal, who had already 
been for sixty-one days a p)risoner, stripped, we are told, 
of his pontificial ornaments, and, like the vilest malefactor, 
tied with cords, willingly consented to an accommodation. 
He agreed that the Emperor should keep the right of 
investiture with cross and ring, promising at the same 
time never to launch any excommiuiication on account of 
what had passed. The treaty was sworn to by twelve 
cardinals and by twelve princes on the part of Henry. 
The Emperor was then solemnly crowned in St. Peter's 
by Pascal, 13th April 1111; but scarcely were the Ger- 
mans out of Rome than all the clergy loudly blamed the 
Pope, and compelled him to assemble a council at the 
Lateran, which pronounced the treaty null and void, as 
having been extorted by violence. 

So long as Pascal lived, Henry ran no risk of an excom- 
munication, but the papal legates and numerous high 
dignitaries of the church, by launching a ban against 
him, created thereby a cause of fresh divisions and renewed 
agitations. A great portion of the princes of the empire 



112 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

refused obedience to the Emperor, and a reign of arbitrary 
ii'on-handedness, brigandage, pillage, and niurder pre- 
vailed. At length, in 1122, the two parties, wearied 
with the strife, concluded a solemn treaty, called the 
Concordat of Worms, by which mutual concessions were 
made, and the rights of Emperor and Pope clearly defined. 
The Emperor consented to the clergy choosing the bishops 
and abbots, and renounced the act of investiture by cross 
and ring; but, on the other hand, the election could only 
be made in the Emperor's presence, or that of his repre- 
sentative; and in case of incertitude or dispute arising, 
he was to have the decisive voice. In the matter of tem- 
poralities, investiture of a fief was to be given by the 
sceptre, the ecclesiastical consecration of the bishop-elect 
to take place in Germany after such investiture; but in 
Italy it was to precede it. Men of peace rejoiced ex- 
ceedingly at this reconciliation, and both sides separated, 
say the chronicles of the period, with infinite testimonies 
of joy. 

The Emperor reigned only three years after, at peace 
with the church, it is true, but not without being tormen- 
ted with insurrections in the empire, which had become 
a theatre of violence and devastation, and desolated with 
sword and fire. Henry died of a cancer at Utrecht, in 
1125, aged forty, leaving no children, and with him ended 
the Salic or Frankish house of Saxony. 

Lothar of Saxony, Count of Supplinburg (1125-1137). 
— The extinction of the house of Franconia summoned 
once more the German princes and nobles to the banks of 
the Rhine, near Mayence, for the purpose of electing a 
successor to Henry V. Of ten princes selected from the 
four principal nations of Germany — Saxons, Franconians, 
Swabians, and Bavarians — three candidates only were 
chosen to contend for the imperial crown. These were, 
Frederick, duke of Swabia, brother-in-law of the late 
Emperor, Lothar of Saxony, and Leopiold of Austria. 
The two last humbly begged with tearful eyes to be 
spared the heavy burden. Frederick, on the contraiy, 
in the pride of his nature, thought that the throne should 



919-1273.] LOTHAR OF SAXONY. 113 

belong to no one but himself, and even allowed tliat 
pretension to be plainly visible on bis countenance. 
Adalbert, archbisbop of Mayence, of himself by no means 
friendly disposed to the bouse of Hobenstaufen, then 
asked tbe tbree candidates Avbether eacb of tbem was 
ready to submit bimself willingly to bim wbo should 
be chosen. The two latter consented; but Frederick 
hesitated and quitted the assembly under pretext of 
going to ask the advice of his friends. This conduct 
so highly offended the other princes that, at the insti- 
gation of Adelbert, Lothar of Saxony was chosen against 
his inclination. 




MAYENCE. 

Shortly after his accession, Lothar renounced all the 
prerogatives which his predecessor had obtained by the 
Concordat of Worms, and even consented to hold his 
crown as a vassal of the Holy See. He was forced into 
making these concessions through the relentless hostility 
of the two puissant dukes of Hobenstaufen, Frederick of 
Saxony, and Conrad of Franconia, with whom he waged 
a sanguinary war during the greater part of his reign; 
until at length the dukes found themselves compelled, in 
the year 1135, to submit to the imperial power. In this 
struggle, Lothai', to strengthen his party, had recourse to 

il 



114: HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV- 

a means wliicli became tlie cause of a century of strife 
and desolation. He married his only davigliter, Gertrude, 
to Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria, a prince already 
powerful, of the Guelphic house, and gave him the duchy 
of Saxony in addition to that of Bavaria. It was the 
first time that the two duchies had been united under the 
same duke. Further, he received as a fief, with the con- 
sent of the Pope, and under the condition of reversion to 
the Roman Church after Henry's death, the rich inherit- 
ance of the Princess Matilda of Tuscany; so that the 
domination of Henry extended from the Elbe to a long 
way on the other side of the Alps, and was greater even 
than that of the Emperor. Such was the commencement 
of the rivalry between the Guelphs and the Hohenstaufens 
or Waiblingers (so called from a fortress of that name), 
and later Ghibellines by the Italians. During a hundred 
years the party watchwords of " Guelphs" and " Ghibel- 
lines " resounded from Etna and Vesuvius to the shores 
of the Baltic and the North Sea. The entire reign of 
Lothar was so troubled by his struggles with the Hohen- 
staufens, and by his expeditions into Italy, that of all the 
sanguine hopes which had been conceived of his prudent, 
pious, and chivalrous character, none was destined to be 
realised. 

Lothar fell sick dui-ing his last Italian campaign, which 
was otherwise very glorious, in 1137, and died in a pea- 
sant's hut, amidst the savage forests of the Tyrol. His 
body was carried back to Saxony, and buried in the 
monastery of Konigslutter, which he had himself founded. 

If the two princely houses of the Guelphs and Ghibel- 
lines attracted universal attention at this time, a third, 
which rose under this reign, merits also some notice. 
Lothar had given the Margraviate of North Saxony to 
Albert the Bear, of the house of Anhalt, one of the most 
remarkable men of his age. After subduing the middle 
and southern marches, he, in order to stimulate their 
inhabitants to activity in useful industry, invited a large 
immigration of agricultural labourers from Flanders. He 
may therefore be regarded as the founder of the mar- 



919-1273.] 



THE HOUSE OF SWALIA. 115 



graviate of Brandenburg; and it was also tinder liim, in 
the middle of the twelfth century, that the name of Ber- 
lin first appeared, and that city consequently had its 
origin about the same time that Leopold of Aiistria laid 
the foundations of Vienna. 

The House of Swabia or Hohenstaufen (1138-1154) 
— Conrad III. (1138-1152). — The empire was now divided 
into two parties, the Guelphs or followers of Henry the 
Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and the Ghibellines, 
who wei-e adherents of the Hohenstaufen. The latter 
assembled a diet at Coblentz; and on this occasion the 
choice did not fall upon him who thought himself certain 
of the crown, that is to say, upon Lothar's son-in-law and 
sole heir, Henry the Proud, although he had already in 
his hands the crown jewels. The princes, offended by 
his pride, elected Conrad of Hohenstaufen, who had 
gained wisdom by misfortune, and to whom Frederick, 
his elder brother, the fox"mer rival of Lothar, willingly 
gave way. Henry the Proud refusing submission to the 
new Emperor, he was jDlaced under ban, his two duchies 
confiscated, Bavaria being given to the margrave of Aus- 
tria, Leopold, uterine brother of the Emperor, and Saxony 
to Albert tlie Bear of Brandenburg. Henry died soon 
afterwards, leaving a son aged 16, who became sub- 
sequently celebrated by the name of Henry the Lion. 

Meanwhile, the vassals of the house of Guelph had 
zealously espoiised the cause of their lords and were 
fighting manfully against the Ghibellines in Bavaria and 
Swabia whilst Duke Guelph, the brother of Henry, shut 
himself up in the fortress of Weinsberg, in Wurteinberg. 
After a battle fought before Weinsberg, in which Duke 
Guelph ventured to measure his strength against _ the 
Emperor, and was completely defeated, the garrison of 
the fortress capitulated on condition that all the women 
should be allowed to depart, taking with them as much 
of their property as they could carry. When, at day- 
break, the gates were opened, the duchess came forth 
bearing her husband on her shoulders, followed by a long- 
line of women carrjang a like burthen, either husband or 



IIG HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. ~ 

relative most clear to tliem. The Emperor, irritated by 
the long resistance of the city, had determined to subject 
it to fire and sword, but was so touched at the sight, that 
when his chiefs urged him to send back the men, on the 
score that they had obtained their liberty by a trick, the 
generous Conrad replied, "Wlien an Emperor pledges his 
word, it must be kept," and he not only pardoned the 
men, but the entire city.* The steep hill, down which 
this extraordinary procession Avound, still retains the 
name of Weibertreue (looman' s fidelity). 

The Second Crusade (1144-1149).— In the year 1144, 
intelligence was received which forced on the nations of 
Europe the conviction that a new crusade must be under- 
taken, or the Holy City be abandoned to the infidels. 
Pope Eugenius II. sent forth, therefore, Bernard, abbot 
of Clairvaux, the adversaiy of Abelard, to preach a 
second crusade in France and Germany, but already the 
universal zeal of Christendom had grown cooler. The 
King of France, Louis VII., whose conscience was sorely 
burthened by remorse for having permitted a horrible 
massacre in a church in Champagne, promised to march 
a large army into Palestine, in the hope of expiating his 
guilt; but the Emperor Conrad, who thought that he had 
done enough for the welfare of his soul in making a pil- 
grimage to Jerusalem, was disposed to turn a deaf ear to 
the preaching of St, Bernard, and declared that he could 
do nothing without the advice of his nobles. At a diet 
held at Spires for this piirpose, Bernard urged Conrad 
from the altar with such stirring eloquence to succour 
his persecuted brother Christians, in token of his gratitude 
for the mercies and blessings which God had showered 
lipon him, that the German Emperor no longer hesitated 
to "take the cross." His example was followed by his 
nephew Frederick, his former enemy, the old Duke 
Guelph, and many others. Conrad's army is said to 
have numbered 60,000 men in arms, besides a host of 
pilgrims, who availed themselves of his protection to 

* This incident is related in a clironicle of that time, that of 
Saint Pantaleoni 



919-127S.] fHE SECOND CftUSADE. 117 

visit the Holy Sepulchre. The command of the expedi- 
tion was offered to St. Bernard, but he, remembering 
Peter the Hermit, refused. Conrad and his Germans 
had i^receded Louis of France in the march, and were 
already in Asia Minor; biit, treacherously misled by their 
Greek guides, they lost their way in the defiles of the 
Taurus, and were cut to pieces by the Turks; Conrad 
and his nephew Barbarossa, Avith a few followers, escap- 
ing by the superior swiftness of their horses. Louis, 
warned of the danger of attempting this mountain route, 
took the longer but safer way by the sea-coast, and his 
army was encouraged by a victory over the Turks on the 
Mpeander; but beyond Laodicea, they entered on narrow 
defiles, where, through the incapacity of the commanders, 
the troops marched in two separate bodies. The Turks 
fell upon the rear, made a terrible slaughter, and the 
King having fought for a long time alone — all the nobles 
of his escort having been slain — escaped with the greatest 
difliculty, with the loss of all his baggage and provisions. 

After encountering innumerable peiils, Conrad, sick 
and dejected, at length reached the Holy Land with less 
than a tenth of his army. He saw Jerusalem and the 
difterent stations of the Cross, and there ofiered up his 
prayers; but this was all the fruit of his ill-starred 
entei'prise. Conrad and Louis, as a last effort, laid siege 
to Damascus, but though the Emperor and his Germans 
perfoi'med prodigies of valour, disunion and want of dis- 
cipline, together with the treachery of the Greeks and 
Templars, rendered the attempt abortive. The siege 
was raised, and Europe saw but very few of those return 
who had set out on this second mad and destructive expe- 
dition. The first crusade had at least attained its object, 
it had delivered Jerusalem; the second had iiselessly shed 
torrents of Christian blood. After it, Palestine found 
itself weaker, Islamism stronger, and the Crusaders derived 
nothing from it but shame and dishonour. 

It was during this crusade that the double eagle was 
first adopted as the arms of the empire. The two sove- 
reigns of Greece and Germany being in alliance to defend 



118 History op oermAny. [period iv, 

the Christian religion against the infidels, their union 
was typified by that heraldic symbol, which became hence- 
forth the cognisance of both. 

Conrad returned from the Holy Land only to die at 
Bamberg in 1152, some writers say of poison, whilst 
busied with prepai'ations for a campaign against Guelph, 
who was conspiring against him with the Norman, Eoger 
of Naples. Conrad HI. was a brave and noble-minded 
prince, and universally esteemed. Instead of designating 
as -his successor his own son, yet too yoiing to govern, he 
recommended Frederick of Swabia, his valiant nephew, 
who had taken j^art with him in the crusade, and he was 
elected with unanimity. 

Frederick I. surnamed by the Italians Barharossa 
{Red-heard) (1152-1190).— This Frederick, the first Ger- 
man Emperor of his name, was the son of Conrad's 
brother Frederick, Duke of Swabia, by Judith, daughter 
of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria. A Ghibelline on 
his father's side, and a Guelph on that of his^ mother, it 
was hoped that on his accession to the throne a cessation 
of the sanguinary rivalry between the two families would 
ensue; and, indeed, one of his first measures in Germany 
was in favour of the Guelphs; for, in 1152, he restored 
the duchy of Bavaria to Henry the Lion, son of Henry 
the Proud, who thus became, like his father, possessor at 
once of the duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, and consc' 
quently the most powerful prince in Germany. 

The reconciliation of the first princes of Germany caused 
a universal joy, and Frederick reckoned thenceforth 
firmly upon the s^ipport of his young friend Henry the 
Lion in his enterprises. The new Emperor took in hand 
with equal vigour the other interests of the empire, over- 
throwing the strongholds of the robber knights, making 
them answerable to the law for their misdeeds, and shov,^- 
ing himself on all hands as the protector of order and 
justice among the German people. 

At his accession, Frederick was in the prime of man- 
hood. Stalwart of frame and above the middle height, 
his complexion was clear and ruddy, with fair hair curl- 



019-1273.] FREDERICK I. llO 

ing crisply over a broad and lofty brow, penetrating blue 
eyes, and well-cut mouth, his manly form presented alto- 
gether an admirable type of the ancient German race. 
From the reddish tinge of his beard, he obtained during 
his Italian campaigns the surname of Barbarossa. A 
natural affability gave to his countenance that pleasing 
expression which is calculated to win all hearts, whilst 
his firm step and noble demeanour denoted a prince born 
to command. The rough life to which he had been 
exposed during the crusade had inured his frame to bear 
the exti-emes of heat and cold, hunger, thirst, and privation 
of every kind. Sincerely pious, but in nowise a bigot, he 
was, whilst firmly opposed to the pretensioias which the 
jrnpacy had been long steadily advancing to iiniversal 
dominion, careful not to come into collision unprepared 
Avith one of the most unsparing of human forces. 

The countries bordering on Germany gave him an 
opportunity of investing the imperial crown with a fresh 
lustre. In the first Diet which he held at Merseburg 
(1152), he settled a quarrel between the two Danish 
princes Sweyn and Canute, on the subject of the kingdom of 
Denmark. Canute had Zealand, but Sweyn had the crown, 
which he received from the hands of Frederick, and to 
whom he rendered homage as vassal. Boleslas, King of 
Poland, owed him the same homage, which he was con- 
strained to pay by force of arms, after a campaign in 
Silesia. Wladislas, Duke of Bohemia, obtained the title 
King for his fidelity as a vassal in the Polish war, for 
the Emperor alone coiild bestow such title. Geisa, King 
of Hungary, received his homage, and also fulfilled the 
duties of a vassal in Frederick's second expedition into 
Italy. Finally, in Burgundy, which had become almost 
alienated from the empire, Frederick re-established the 
ancient influence of Germany by his marriage with 
Beatrice, heiress of Upper Burgundy, and he attached 
to his house that portion of the old Burgundian kingdom. 
All the magnates of the nation swore fidelity to the empire, 
and thus the imperial dignity shone with fresh lustre under 
the puissant monarch who governed Germany. 



120 History of Germany. [period iV 

The great cities of Italy since tlie feeble and disorderly- 
sway of Henry II., had shown great insolence to the 
imperial powei-, and it was only with repugnance that 
they submitted to the rule of their suzerain. But of all 
the rest, the capital of Lombardy, the potent city of Milan, 
showed itself as the haughtiest and most insolent. From 
the beginning of the eleventh century, Milan had dis- 
played so much vigour and energy, that it had by degrees 
subjected several of the neighbouring cities, and affected 
a contempt so insulting for the Emperor's commands, that 
on one occasion the seal of a letter which Frederick had 
written with his own hand, in 1153, was torn oflf and 
trodden xmder foot, and the mandate itself, reduced to 
fragments, thrown into the faces of his envoys. At the 
same time, deputies from the Lombax'd city of Lodi threw 
themselves at the Emperor's feet, and implored his aid 
against the Milanese. Stung by these insults, and thus 
appealed to, Frederick resolved upon decisive measures. 
The following year he crossed the Alps with a formid- 
able army, and encamped on the Koncalian plain, near 
Piacenza, where he set up the imperial shield on a tall 
pole, and commanded all his Italian vassals to assemble 
and do homage on pain of forfeiting their fiefs. In answer 
to the summons, the Milanese offered him 4000 marks of 
sUver on condition of being confirmed in the lordship of 
Lodi and Cremona. Furious at the audacity of this pro- 
posal, he determined to inflict a severe punishment upon 
the proud city. Not having made, however, prejoarations 
for besieging so strong a place, he proceeded to destroy 
several of its castles, and seized upon the two allied towns 
of Asti and Tortona. This had the desired effect of 
enforcing promptly the homage of most of the other Lom- 
bard cities ; and after causing himself to be crowned King 
of Lombardy, he marched at once upon Rome. 

The Emperor found the Eternal City divided between 
two factions — the one, supporters of the Papal preten- 
sions, the other, the populace who, hurried away by the 
bold harangues of the reformer, Arnold of Brescia, sought 
to re-establish the ancient Roman republic. Both parties 



919-1273.] . FREDERICK I. 121 

implored aid of the Emiieror. Pope Adrian IV., terrified 
by the violence of his enemies, had at first taken refuge 
in the strong fortress of Castellana, but j soon afterwards 
visited the German camp upon the Emperor's assurance 
that he would find safety therein. At the same time, 
Arnold sent envoys to Frederick, who, when in represent- 
ing the aspii-ations of the reformers, they spoke of the 
ancient Roman virtue, he interrupted them with the 
insulting remark, " It is not among you, effeminate liars 
as ye are, that ancient Rome and her virtues are to be 
found, but among us, who are full of vigour and truth !" 
It might have been well, however, if instead of thus 
rebuffing the radical reformer's envoys, Frederick had 
made use of Arnold and the Roman populace at this junc- 
ture in the attempt to curb the arrogant pretensions of 
Adrian I Y. But the pious prince, doubtless, felt repug- 
nance at making common cause with an heretical leader 
in what he considered a design of establishing a tempoiul 
republic rather than that of effecting a great reform in 
the church. Arnold thus left to his own devices was 
made prisoner by his enemies, and met with summary 
punishment. The Emperor, on entering Rome at day- 
break, saw for the first and last time the pallid features 
of the audacious republican illuminated by the eai-liest 
sunbeam, as the papal guards were leading him forth to 
execution. 

It was a common practice of the Roman Church to 
denounce a man as a heretic who either rejected its doc- 
trines or manifested hostility to its corruptions. Arnold 
of Brescia, in whatever light Frederick Barbarossa, as a 
good son of the church, looked upon him, might never- 
theless have been sincere in his desire to reform that 
church, and although a formidable adversary to kings 
and priests, entirely unselfish in his attempt to rid the 
Roman people of sacerdotal tyranny. However that 
might be, the citizens of Rome, disheartened and dis- 
mayed, admitted the Emperor without resistance, who at 
once summoned the Pope to perform the ceremonial of his 
coronation. Adrian lY., an Englishman named Nicholas 



12^ History op Germany. [period iv. 

Breakspear, tlie only native of that country ever pro- 
moted to the Papal dignity, on his arrival from the camp, 
awaited, before dismounting from his mule, the attendance 
of the Emperor to hold his stirrup, as had been the custom 
of his predecessors. But as Frederick did not make his 
appearance, the cardinals who accompanied the Pope fled 
back to Castellana, regarding such negligence as a sign of 
the evil intentions of the Emperor. When, however, 
Adrian at length dismounted and placed himself in his 
chair at St. Peter's, Fi'ederick threw himself at his feet 
and kissed them. Thereupon the Pope took courage, and 
reproached Frederick for not having given him the mark 
of deference he owed him. The Emperor, on being 
assured by the pxinces present, that Lothar himself had 
gone through that form of respect to Pope Innocent II., the 
ceremony of dismounting was arranged to be recommenced 
on the day following, when, as the Italian chroniclers say, 
Frederick duly held the stirrup. The German writers, 
on the contrary, relate that the Emperor did in fact hold 
the stirrup, but, as through inadvertence he had held the 
light instead of the left, the Pope refused him "the kiss 
of Peace." In the end, however, the Emperor yielding to 
the solicitations of the princes, both embraced as friends, 
and Adrian placed the imperial crown on Frederick's 
head. 

Meanwhile the citizens, furious at the loss of their 
leader, rose in mass, and Frederick, whose horse chanced 
to fall as he chai'ged the insurgents, would have lost his 
life but for the courage of Henry the Lion, who rescued 
him from a host of enemies. A terrible slaughter ensued, 
and Rome was taken only to be abandoned almost imme- 
diately by the victor, whose men had begun to fall victims 
to the pestilential onslaught of Roman fever. 

Marching south, with the intention of chastising the 
Normans, Frederick's expedition failed from the same 
cause — the unhealthiness of the climate. Retreating 
with his decimated army towards the Alps, he cut his 
way with difficulty through the treacherous Italians of 
the north who blockaded the passes, and ultimately 



919-1273.] FREDERICK I. 123 

reaclaecl Germany in safety. Soon afterwai-ds, the Em- 
peror obtained peace in Tipper Italy by granting a con- 
stitution to the cities, to the terms of which all male 
persons between the ages of eighteen and seventy were 
required to swear obedience, and to renew their oath 
every five years. 

The quarrel between Pope and Emperor, however, 
was renewed after a momentary reconciliation through 
Adrian's intrigues with the German bishops, and con- 
tinued until that pontiff's death in 1159. Ecclesiastical 
affairs then became even more embroiled through the 
Emperor's party having chosen for Adrian's successor, 
Victor III., while that of the cardinal's elected Alex- 
ander III., a cardinal who had behaved with the 
greatest insolence before the German Diet, in I'esisting 
what he called the encroachments of the Emperor. The 
schism between the cardinals and the emperors lasted 
for a long period. They each insisted on the right to 
elect the Pope; and consequently there were frequently 
two popes, who were of course taitter antagonists, each 
insisting on his own right, and calling the other anti-po'pe, 
launching their excommunications against each other, and 
both parties seeking to strengthen themselves by every 
means possible. 

The imperial power being still resisted in Italy, and 
the city of Lodi, which had submitted to it, laid in ashes 
by the Milanese, Frederick, at the head of a powerful 
army, crossed the Alps at the Pentecost of 1158, and 
laid siege to Milan. Awed by the presence of so formid- 
able a force, almost all the cities of Northern Italy sub- 
mitted and joined the Emperor. Milan, the rebellious, 
was soon compelled to surrender from want of provisions 
to the irritated suzerain. The Milanese appeared before 
the victor praying for mercy in the most abject and sup- 
pliant manner, the chief nobles with naked swords hung 
round their necks, and the citizens with halters, laymen 
and clerics alike being clad in mourniug garments, with 
their feet bare. Frederick pardoned his rebellious vassals 
with the remark, that " they might now see that it was 



124 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

easier to prevail by submission than by tlie arbitrament 
of arms." He tlien made them again swear allegiance to 
him, exacted a sum of 9000 marks in silver, a promise to 
build him a palace in their city, took 300 hostages, and 
placed the imperial eagle on the roof of their cathedral. 

But this humiliation of the Milanese was only feigned, 
and an expedient resorted to from necessity, which only 
lasted whilst the Emp>eror's forces terrified them. For, 
in the year following, when he desired, conformably with 
his prerogative, to appoint burgomasters in Milan, the 
citizens fell upon E,ainald, his chancellor, Otho, the Count 
Palatine, and the other envoys with such fury that it 
was with the greatest difiiculty their lives were saved. 
Frederick once more placed Milan under the ban of the 
«mpii'e, and swore in his wrath never again to place the 
crown on his head until he had reduced the insolent city 
to a heap of ruins. 

Hostilities recommenced with all the fury of the wars 
of that period. The Milanese sought safety in attempting 
the assassination of the powerful Emperor who menaced 
them; at least, we are told by contemporary writers that 
several attempts to murder Frederick Barbarossa were 
made when he lay with his army before Milan. These 
dastardly attacks upon the Emperor's life having failed 
one after another, the siege was carried on more vigor- 
ously than ever; but the strong city maintained a stub- 
born defence for nearly three years, during which much 
blood was shed on both sides. At length, exhausted by 
famine and loss of its defenders, the starving Milanese 
surrendered at discretion. After undergoing a series of 
humiliations in the camp of the conqueror, Frederick 
spared their lives, but compelled them to place all their 
insignia of honour, with more than a hundred banners 
and standards at the foot of the throne. He then sum- 
moned a council at Pavia to determine the fate of Milan, 
and, in a numerous assemblage of German and Italian 
bishops, nobles and envoys from other cities, it was de- 
creed that Milan should be razed to its foundations. In 
its prosperity, Milan had so continually tormented the 



919-1273.] 



FREDERICK I. 



125 



neiglibouring cities of Conio, Lodi, Pavia, Yercelli, N"o- 
vara, etc., that dejiutations from tliose places came to ask 
as a favour that they might themselves demolish the walls 
of the proud city; and, in their hatred, they set to work 
with such vigour, that in six days they heaped up wider 
ruins than hired labourers would have done in many 
months. Among other relics taken during the sack of 
the place, the skulls of the Magi, or Wise Men of the 
East, which had been deposited at Milan during the first 
crusade, were transferred by Rainald, archbishop of 
Cologne, to his own cathedral, where they are still vene- 
rated under the names of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, 
the three Kiiiu-s of C'oloaiie. 




COLOGNE CATHEDRAL. 



But the most dangei'ous of Frederick's enemies was the 
bold and politic Alexander III., who, after two years of 
exile passed in FrancCj had succeeded in gaining qyqv 



126 HISTOKY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

Rome to his side, and liad re-entered the Eoly City. 
Frederick, who had been excommunicated by Alexander, 
hastened by forced marches to Rome, and compelled the 
inhabitants to receive Pascal III. ; whereupon the anti- 
pope, finding that the Romans were murmuring at his 
obstinacy, fled secretly from the city disguised as a 
pilgrim and took refuge in Beneventum. Then Frederick, 
with his consort, was crowned by Pascal on the 1st Aug. 
1167, in the metropolis of Chiistianity. 
■ It was soon, however, the Emperor's turn to flee from 
a more deadly enemy than the anti-pope. The German 
army was assailed by a terrible joestilence, the attacks of 
which were so sudden that men seemingly in perfect 
health being seized by giddiness whilst walking through 
the streets, fell dead, or expired in a few hours. Amongst 
those who perished were eight bishops, one of whom was 
the skilful chancellor, Rainald of Cologne, four dukes, 
including the Emperor's own cousin, Frederick of Rothen- 
burg, and Guelph the younger; besides some thousand 
nobles, knights, and seigniors. The Emperor fled to 
Pavia, and in the following spring secretly quitted Italy, 
in disguise, with a very small suite, like a fugitive. 

Frederick at length reached Germany; and it was not 
until 1174 that he entered Italy for the fourth time. 
Meanwhile, he had not been idle whilst at home. Duiing 
those seven years he had strengthened the imperial power, 
purged the interior from intestine disorder, especially 
quelling the furious quarrel in Noi'thern Germany be- 
tween Henry the Lion and his adversaries; and at the 
same time increased his dominions by various signal 
acquisitions destined for his five children who were yet 
in their youth. Thus the house of Hohenstaufen exten- 
ded its roots and branches on all sides like a vigorous 
and flourishing tree. 

Frederick next turned his attention towards Italy, 
ever rebellious. It had become, however, more diflicult 
to hurry thither the German princes on account of the 
unhealthiness of the climate; the Emperor therefore had 
need of all his eloquence and indefatigable activity to 



919-1273,] BANISHMENT OF HENRY. 127 

raise an army. But, in tlie autumn of 1174, lie crossed 
tlie Alps for the fifth time, and laid siege to Alessandria, 
After remaining for seven months under its walls, his 
troops exposed during the winter to great sickness and 
misery from the camp being pitched in a marshy spot, 
the Emperor at last found himself compelled to raise the 
siege and change his position so promptly as to necessitate 
burning his tents. On the 20th May 1176, Frederick 
encountered the Lombards at Lignano, in which battle 
his adversaries having the advantage of numbers and 
position, he suffered a complete defeat, was thrown from 
his horse, and only with difficulty escaped, favoured by 
the darkness of night, with a few followers. For two 
days he was reported to have been slain, and the empress 
even wore mourning. Shortly afterwards the affairs of 
Italy were happily settled by a treaty of peace, concluded 
at Pa via with the Lombards. As it was found imprac- 
ticable to arrange very speedily the articles of this peace 
with the Lombards, a suspension of arms for six years 
was agreed to, and the Emperor returned to Germany, 
causing himself to be crowned King of Burgundy on his 
way thither at Aries. 

Banishment of Henry the Lion. — Whilst the House 
of Hohenstaufen had in Frederick I. a valiant and active 
supporter, that of Guelph fou.nd also in Henry the Lion 
a hero who gave to ib added lustre. For, whilst the 
Emperor was occupied with his great wars in Italy, the 
former had extended widely his conquests in Silesia and 
Pomerania. Henry had been the loved companion of 
Frederick's youth, and the latter naturally reckoned upon 
his loyal support in his enterjjrises. Just after the defeat 
at Lignano, the Emperor and Henry met at Chiavenna, 
where Frederick was collecting all his forces for a decisive 
action against the victorious Lombards. Henry, who 
had lately returned from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
refused to join the Emperor in his forthcoming campaign, 
an offence which was punished by the forfeiture of all his 
possessions, save Brunswick and Limeburg, and banish- 
ment from the empire for three years. Henry the Lion 



128 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

retired to tlie court of his father-in-law, Henry II. (Plan- 
tagenet), where his wife Matilda gave birth to a son, 
William, who became head of that branch of the House 
of Hanover which now reigns in England. 

Hoping to establish in the south as in the north of 
Italy, an influence which should overawe the Pope ami 
the Lombards, the Emperor married his eldest son to 
Constance, heiress presumptive of the kingdoms of Naples 
and Sicily. " Italy," he said, " was like an eel, which a 
man had need to grasp firmly by the tail, the head, and 
the middle, and which might nevertheless give him the 
slip." The Pojae saw the danger, and in his exasperation 
at the marriage, excommunicated those bishops who had 
ofiiciated at the ceremony. Another broil between the 
sjjiritual and temporal powers seemed imminent, when 
suddenly the news arrived that Jerusalem was again in 
the hands of the infidels, through the defeat of the Chris- 
tians by Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, in a battle near Tiberias. 

Frederick joins the Third Crusade— His Death (1190). 
— After Frederick Barbarossa's stormy yet heroic career, 
it appeared as though Divine Pi-ovidence had reserved for 
his old age a brilliant termination in the holy enterprise 
of a crusade. The disastrous intelligence from Palestiiie 
is said to have killed Urban III., but his successor, 
Gregory YIII., sent urgent letters to all the princes of 
Europe, entreating them to march instantly to the deliver- 
ance of the Holy Sepulchre. In answer to this appeal, the 
Templars and Knights of St. John were the first to embark, 
and were followed by the Italians, Normans, Danes, and 
Prisons. The summons was promptly obeyed throughout 
Europe, Kichard Coeur de Lion, King of England, PhOip- 
Augustus, King of Prance, and above all by Frederick 
Barbarossa : every Christian potentate was astir. The 
heroic Emperor, although in his seventieth year, began 
his march with youthful ardour at the head of a well- 
equipped army of 150,000 men, having received the cross 
from the hands of the Cardinal d'Albano (May 1189). 
His route lay through Hungary to Constantinople, where 
he embarked his army for the shores of Palestine in ships 



919-1273.] HENRY VI. 129 

lent him by the Emperor Isaac. On landing, the Greeks 
attempted to exercise the same perfidy against him as 
they had against Conrad III., but he punished them and 
laid their towns in ashes. The Sultan Arslan of Iconium, 
in Asia Minor, who j^roffered his friendship, but after- 
wards treacherously withdrew it, was defeated with the 
loss of his capital. In all these battles and hazardous 
conjunctures, the veteran wai-rior distinguished himself 
by his heroic vigour, and thus led his army skilfully to 
the frontiers of Syiia; but there his great career came 
to an end. As they advanced towards Armenia, the 
heat became insu2Dportable. On the 10th June 1190, 
on the army setting forth from Seleucia, it was necessary 
to cross an inconsiderable river called the Calycadnus, 
over which was a narrow bridge which rendered the 
passage of the army slow and tedious. The impatient 
Emperor, anxious to join his son, who was at the head 
of the vanguard, plunged his horse into the stream, in 
order the more quickly to reach the opposite bank; but 
the current swept him away; and, when help reached 
him, his lifeless body was recovered at a point far distant 
from that at which he entered the river. The grief and 
consternation of the princes and the army at the loss of 
their loved Emperor and leader may be imagined, but 
cannot be described. All hope seemed to have aban- 
doned them, and by far the greater portion of the troops 
returned to Germany. Frederick Barbarossa was at 
least spai-ed the bitter anguish of witnessing the melan- 
choly issue of so great an enterprise. Almost the entire 
remnant of the force which had remained under the 
command of the late Emperor's second son, the Duke of 
Swabia, died of the plagvie whilst fighting bravely before 
Antioch, the duke amongst the number, in the twentieth 
year of his age. The mortal remains of his heroic father 
found a tomb in Antioch, in that Syrian city where the 
followers of our Lord were first called Christians. 

Henry VI. (1190-1197).— Frederick Barbarossa was 
succeeded by his eldest son Henry, to whom he had com- 
mitted the care of the empire during his absence. Heniy, 

I 



130 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

far from resembling his father in strength and nobility of 
character and grandeur of thought, was, on the contrary, 
narrow minded, and often cruel to those who opposed 
his will. His master-passion was avarice, which he sig- 
nally manifested on an occasion which has reflected an 
indelible stigma on his memory. After the capture of 
Acre by Richard Cceur de Lion, King of England, a 
quan-el arose between him and Leopold, Duke of Austria. 
On the Crusaders entering the city, the Germans had 
separate quarters allotted to them, and there Leopold, 
the only German prince who remained in Palestine after 
Barbarossa's death, hung out his baimer on the highest 
tower in Acre. Irritated at such unjustifiable assump- 
tion of superiority over his allies, the fiery Gceihr de Lion 
tore down the banner and trampled it in the dust. For 
this afiront, the Duke Leopold and Henry later took an 
ignoble vengeance. Richard, on his return from the 
Holy Land, being shipwrecked in the Adriatic, proceeded 
homewards through Germany disguised as a pilgrim. He 
was, however, recognised near Vienna, made prisoner 
delivered up to Leopold, who had returned before him, 
and confined in the castle of Trielfels on the Rhine. At 
length, brought before the Diet at Hangenau on a chargt 
of having wronged the Germans by^an unfair distribution 
of booty, he was forced to pay a ransom of a million 
crowns — an enormous sum in those days — and do homage 
to the Emperor before he could obtain his release. In 
thus arraigning Richard, Henry, it is true, acted in con- 
formity with the right then assumed by the empire of 
citing all the kings of Christendom before its tribunal, 
but the treatment of the English monarch was esj)ecially 
condemned by the German princes, and looked upon by 
all Europe as a lasting disgrace to the Emperor. The 
unchivalrous Leopold who had I'esorted to this despicable 
revenge, was shortly afterwards killed by a fall from his 
horse. 

The chief object of all Henry's efforts was to secure 
Naples and Sicily, the inheritance of his wife Constance, 
to his crown; but the avarice and cruelty which he mani- 



919-1273.] PHILIP OF IIOIIENSTAUFEN. 131 

fested iu tlie pursuit of tliis iulieritance, alienated more 
and more from him his new subjects, and increased their 
hatx'ed of the Germans, for not only did he cany away 
from that kingdom 160 mules laden with gold, silver, and 
jewels of the old Norman kings, but he put out the eyes 
of certain nobles who had revolted against him. Further, 
to strike terror into others and insult their eftbrf'-i to 
withhold from him the coveted croAvn, he caused them 
to be seated in a chair of red-hot iron, and a crown simi- 
larly heated placed upon their heads. The rest of their 
accomplices, terrified, submitted; but that submission was 
not heartfelt, and Henry's descendants paid dearly for 
his inhuman cruelties. 

Summoned into Sicily to suppress an insurrection, this 
detestable tyrant suddenly died there, in 1197, at the age 
of thirty-three, when he was on the eve of devoting him- 
self wholly to a great enterprise — the conquest of the 
Greek empire, in order thereby to pave the way for the 
certain success of the Crusaders. 

In this reign Styria was added to Austila, and Vienna 
surrounded by a wall, the expense of fortifying the city 
being paid out of the King of England's ransom. 

Philip of Hohenstaiifen (1197-1208)— Otho IV. (1197- 
1215). — The tender age of Henry's heir, an unbaptized 
boy between two and three years old, was the cause of a 
formidable strife between Wo factions, severally sup- 
porters of the Hohenstaufen and the Guelphs, who both 
pronounced against the young Frederick's accession. The 
first-named chose for Emperor, Philip, the infant's uncle, 
to whom they swore fealty at Mulhausen, whilst the 
Guelphic party chose Otho, son of Henry the Lion, who 
was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, after that city having 
for seven weeks resisted his entrance within its walls. 
Thus two sovereigns at once divided between them the 
authority of the mighty Pvoman empire. 

This unfortunate rupture of the empire's unity, left 
Germany for more than ten years a prey to the greatest 
disorder, rapine, and murder. Both the reigning princes 
were endowed with good qunlitieSj but neither was abl© 



132 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

to benefit his country, whilst in order to win over the 
Pope, each to his own side, they ceded many of their 
rights to Innocent III., an energetic and ambitions 
pontiff, under whom the papal supremacy attained its 
highest degree. Otho, to secure the support of Innocent, 
threw himself at his feet, and swore to acknowledge him 
as his liege lord, and restore to the church all the rights 
and possessions of which it had been deprived by former 
emperors. He even recognised in the Pope the full 
power of bestowing the empii-e; and, in a letter which he 
addressed to him, he called himself King of the Romans 
by the grace of God and of the Pope. By reason of these 
concessions, and because he was a Guelph, Innocent pro- 
tected him to the utmost; and when Philip had been 
assassinated in the castle of Altenbourg, near Bamberg, 
'n 1208, by Otho of Wittelsbach, nephew of him to 
v\rhom Frederick I. had given the duchy of Bavaria, out 
of revenge at being refused the hand of Philip's daughter, 
Otho IV. was generally acknowledged as sole monarch 
of Germany, and was crowned at Rome. But this friend- 
ship between Pope and Emperor did not last long. Otho 
soon saw that he had gone too far with his concessions, 
and that he ought not to have sacrificed to his own 
private interests the imperial rights. Scarcely was the 
ceremony of his coronation concluded, and he had married 
a daughter of his late rival in the hope of conciliating 
the Ghibelline party, when the Roman populace rose and 
drove him out of the city without Innocent making the 
slightest effort to restrain their violence. Exasperated 
at such an insult, the Emperor declared that he no longer 
considered himself bound by the conditions which he had 
made with the Pope, Notwithstanding all the remon- 
strances of Innocent, Otho persisted in his disobedience, 
the result of which was that the Pope, furiously angry, 
set up against him the youthful Frederick, son of Heniy, 
who in the interim had been brought up in Sicily, and 
over which he had ruled since the death of his mother, 
Constance. Frederick soon saw himself at the head of 
a great party, and was crowned at Aix in 1215i 



019-1273. J Frederick ii. l33 

Otho Defeated at Bovines (1214); is Deposed and 
Dies (1218). — Otlio IV., who liad had the imprudence to 
ally himself with John Lachland, King of England, in 
the coalition against Philip-Augustus, having lost his 
best troops in the disastrous battle of Bovines, in 
Flanders, and with that defeat the remaining confidence 
of his countrymen, retired, on being formally deposed by 
Pope Innocent, to his duchy in the North of Germany. 
There he died in 1218, and twenty weeks after his de- 
cease, according to his will, the imperial insignia, includ- 
ing the holy cross, the holy lance, the crown, and one of 
the teeth of St. John the Baptist, all of which he had 
refused to surrender when deposed, were delivered to the 
reigning Emperor. 

Frederick II. (1215-1250).— The education of Frederick 
had been carefully suj^erintended by Pope Innocent III., 
who became guardian of the orphan prince after the 
decease of his mother Constance. The grandson of 
Erederick Barbarossa was a worthy descendant of that 
valiant Emperor, alike by his temperament, at once 
elastic, resolute and intrepid, as by the amenity of his 
manners, and an imposing majesty of demeanoui", the 
impression of which remained long after his decease. 
Versed in the arts and sciences so fat- as the scanty 
knowledge of those days went, he cultivated also poetry. 
Bred up amidst the strife and contention of that turbu- 
lent age, he became prematurely acquainted with the 
characters of men, his piercing eye penetrating their 
follies, and lashing them not unfreqviently with the sharp 
satire of his verse. 

Remarkable for the possession of such qualities at such 
a time, yet tliis young sovereign achieved nothing great. 
His energies were expended in an ever-recurring struggle, 
greater and more terrible than ever, between the Pope 
and the empire. More Italian than German, he had 
especially at heart his inheritance of the two Sicilies. 
Germany thus neglected, his vassals there steadily ac- 
quired greater power, whilst in France, the reversion of 
several fiefs to that crown prepared for the royal puis- 



134 illSTOilY OF GERMANY. [pERlOD IV. 

sance of that realm tlie victory which it ultimately 
obtained over them. 

There were three main causes which tended to excite 
the Papal See against Frederick; first, because the popes 
could not endure that the imperial crown and that of 
Apulia should belong to the same individual, as he could 
thus menace the states of the church on both sides; next, 
because he would not recognise without resti'iction the 
great rights that Otho had conceded; and, lastly, that 
which excited their wrath the most was that, in the heat 
of the quarrel, he had launched keen sarcasms against 
them, and sought in every way to render them ridiculous 
and contemptible. 

Frederick 11. Excommunicated by Gregory IX. (1227). 
— There was a special circumstance, however, which gave 
4se to the quarrel. Frederick, on being crowned at Aix, 
liad promised to undertake a crusade to the Holy Land, 
and this appeal was rendered more persuasive by the fact 
of his having married Joanna, daughter of the King of 
Jerusalem. After that ceremony, he visited E,ome for 
the purjiose of receiving the imperial crown from the 
Pope, and had rencAved that promise; and, before his de- 
parture, prevailed on the electors to choose his young 
son Henry as his successor. From Pome, Frederick 
visited Apulia, which he had left at the age of eighteen. 
Thex'e he would gladly have remained for some time; but 
the violent tempered Gregory IX. continually urged him 
to keep his promise. Yielding to his importunities, the 
Emperor, in the year 1227, set sail with a considerable 
force, but, a frightful pestilence having broken out 
amongst his troops, he returned into port after being at 
sea only a few clays, and the expedition was given up. 
Enx'aged at its failure, Gregory, refusing to admit of any 
excuse, excommunicated Frederick, alleging that the 
sickness was only feigned. To refute these accusations 
and redeem his honour, and burning with rage at the 
unjust sentence of excommunication passed upon him, 
the Emperor set out the following year for Palestine. 
This step on the part of Frederick, instead of appeasing 



919-1273. J FREDERICK II. 135 

the Pope, only served to increase the dissension between 
them, the hatter asserting that an expedition undertaken 
in the service of God, and conducted by an excommuni- 
cate, could not possibly sixcceed. Moreover, in order 
that Frederick should achieve nothing great in the Holy 
Land, Gregory sent communications secretly to the eccle- 
siastics, and the Knights of the Temple and St. John to 
refuse him their support, or to hold any relations with 
him; and even sent his own troops into the hereditary 
territories of Frederick in Italy, who overran a part of 
Apulia. 

Treating the knightly orders Avith contempt, however, 
and relying on his faithful Germans, Frederick obtained 
such a prompt success, that the Sultan Al Kamel thi'eAV 
open to him the gates of Jerusalem, and that leader of 
the infidels, with his own hands, placed the croAvn on 
the head of the Christian Emperor. The patriarch of 
Jerusalem and other ecclesiastics, obedient to the Pope's 
commands, instead of thanking God for the recovery of 
the Holy City, refused to celebrate any religious service 
in the Emperor's presence. Frederick, however, having 
secured all his rights to the crown* of Jerusalem, and 
]3aid his devotions at the Holy Sepulchre, hastened back 
to Italy, where his presence alone soon restored to him 
all he had lost; and the Pope found himself compelled to 
make peace with him in 1230, and remove the excom- 
munication. 

The Emperor's son Henry revolts against him. — A 
short interval of tranquillity permitted Frederick to ex- 
change the rude arbitrament of war for a life of refined 
and luxurious enjoyment in Apulia, the land of his pre- 
dilection. Another trial, however, awaited him. His 
son Henry, whom he had left in Germany to govern the 
empire, led away by ambition and evil counsels, revolted 
against him. After an absence of fifteen years, Fredeiick 
returned into Germany, the north-east of which, during 
that interval, had been considerably extended by the 



* This title, King of Jerusalem, passed from Frederick to the 
Kings of Naples and Sicily. 



136 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PEUIOD IV. 

conquests of the Kniglits of the Cross and Sword, who 
subdued Esthonia, and those of the Teutonic Order, who 
conquered and civilised the Prussians, a barbarian race, 
who ate horseflesh, and whose chief pastime was drink- 
ing to intoxication. These wild marauders having long 
harassed their neighbours the Poles, the latter, unable 
to withstand so powerful an enemy, at length summoned 
to their aid Hermann of Salza, Grand Master of the 
Teutonic Order, who sent a hundred knights to their 
assistance. In this manner Prussia was eventually sub- 
dued, and became the possession of the Teutonic knights. 
Whilst the frontiers of the empire were thus extended by 
conquest, its interior was agita.ted unceasingly by the 
broils and treasons of the nobles, and their cruel oppres- 
sion of those who were too weak to resist them. 

Such, were among the troubles which had prevailed 
during Frederick's absence. The misleaders of his son 
told him that the limited power with which he was in- 
trusted was the cause of these evils. They reminded him 
that his father had promised the Pope never to permit 
the governments of Germany and Apulia to be in the 
hands of one person, and persuaded him that his younger 
brother Conrad was the favourite of his father. Thus 
badly advised, Henry, in 1234, entered into an alliance 
with Frederick, the warlike duke of Austria, and as- 
sembling the German nobles at Boppart on the Rhine, 
proposed that they should throw off their allegiance to 
the Emperor. Not meeting with much encouragement 
from the majoi-ity, he next addressed himself to Italy, 
where he hoped to find ready allies in Gregory IX. and 
the Lombards. The ever-rebellious Milanese were will- 
ing to aid him, but the Pope indignantly rejected his 
unnatural proposal, declared all oaths of allegiance taken 
to him to be null and void, and commanded all his ad- 
herents to abandon him on pain of excommunication. 
Frederick soon afterwards appeared in Germany with a 
numerous force, took his son prisoner, and after foimally 
deposing him at Mayence, sent him into Calabria, where 
he died in prison some seven yeai'S afterwards (1242). 



919-1273.] FREDERICK II. 137 

Frederick II. Marries an English Princess (1235).— 
On his return to Germany, Frederick contracted a third 
marriage with Isabella, the beautiful sister of Henry III., 
King of England (1235). At the ceremony, which was 
celebrated with great pomp at Worms, there were among 
the guests 4 kings, 11 bishoi^s, 75 princes and 12,000 
knights. The Emperor then held a Diet at Mayence, at 
which Henry, as has been said, was deposed, and his 
brother Conrad elected Frederick's successor. 

Frederick defeats the Milanese (1237).— In the year 
following, the revolt of the Lombard cities necessitated 
Frederick's return to Italy. They had renewed their 
ancient alliance, and refused the obedience they owed to 
their Emperor. Seconded by his brave and skilful general, 
Ezelin di Romano, with a mercenary force of 10,000 
Saracens, Frederick entered upon the campaign in North 
Italy, where the imperial army was strengthened by troops 
of Ghibellines. He conquered several cities of the con- 
federation, and defeated so completely the Milanese (27th 
Nov. 1237) at Corte-nuova, that they would have willingly 
su.bmitted had he been disposed to consent to tolerable 
conditions. They offered to recognise him as their sove- 
reign, to deliver up to him all their gold and sil\-er, and 
furnish 10,000 men for the crusades, on condition of his 
pardoning their former misdeeds. But Frederick, irri- 
tated at their obstinate resistance, and unmindful of what 
happened to his grandfather, required ixnconditional sur- 
render. These people who remembered the struggles of 
their forefathers, preferred, as they told him, rather to 
die with arms in their hands than perish by famine, 
imprisonment, or the hand of tlie executioner. Thus hos- 
tilities were renewed, and the stubborn Milanese held out 
bravely in one city after another against their suzerain. 

Frederick II. Excommunicated a second time by 
Gregory IX (1235). — Henceforth, misfortune continually 
assailed the Emperor, and, as we are told by a contem- 
porary writer, *'he alienated many by his inexorable 
severity." Gregory IX., his archest enemy, rose up once 
more against him, entered the confederation of the cities, 



138 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

and placed him again under the ban of the Church. The 
reason alleged by Gregory for this last step was that 
Sardinia, of which the Pope claimed sovereignty as part 
of St. Peter's patrimony, had been seized by Frederick, 
wlio, against the Pope's remonstrances, made his son 
king of the island. To discuss these and other matters, 
Gregory having summoned an cecumenical council, the 
Emperor, in order to defeat his ecclesiastical adversaries, 
gave secret orders to his son to seize the vessels in which 
they had embarked. The result was that twenty-two 
ships on their voyage to Pome, filled with cardinals, 
bishops, and prelates, were captured, and this bold 
manoeuvre completely frustrated the holding of the 
council. Gi-egory, who was nearly a hundred years old, 
took this mortification so much to heart that he died a 
few months afterwards. 

Inroad of the Mongols. — About this time, Germany 
was overrun by the Mongols, a barbarous race who 
appear to have followed the tracks taken by the Huns 
in former reigns. Like their precursors, these savages 
were of low stature, mis-shapen, and of hideous mien, 
prominent cheek-bones, flat noses, thick blubber lips, 
and small deep-sunken eyes. They fed upon cats, rats, 
and the most repulsive refuse. Mounted on small, lean, 
but swift horses, these marauders had pursued a long- 
career of havoc and plunder, devastating many countries, 
and leaving a trail of terror and ferocity behind them. 
In the year 1206 they had invaded all Asia xmder a 
chief who assumed the name of Zingis Khan (Lord of 
Lords). This chief, after having conquered China, died 
in 1227. His sons overran Russia and Prussia, and 
penetrated as far as Silesia, where they pillaged and 
burnt its capital, Breslau. In 1241, they proved vic- 
torious in a great battle over the Silesians, near Liegnitz, 
v/here Henry the Pious, Duke of Lower Silesia, with an 
army of not more than 30,000 men, encountered an innu- 
mei-able multitiide of Mongols, according to some writers 
estimated at 450,000 strong. The Duke, like a chival- 
rous knight, disputed for two days the victory with the 



019-1273.] prederick: it. 139 

barbarian hordes; but, overwliebued by numbers, and 
having fought a lost battle to the bitter end, at last fell 
with the greater part of his force — the savage enemy 
carrying off, as a trophy, nine sacks filled with ears cut 
from the heads of the slain. These fierce invaders then 
marched southwards, perjietrating the most atrocious 
cruelties in Moravia and Hungary, until at length they 
met with a signal defeat from the imperial forces on the 
banks of the Daniibe. 

The result of this Mongol invasion to Silesia and 
Hungary was, that lai'ge numbers of German peasants 
migrated to those depopulated countries, and thus there 
has been since then a population more German than 
Sclavonian, 

Frederick II. Deposed and Banned by Innocent IV. 
(1243). — The sentence of excommunication launched by 
Gregory IX. against Frederick was solemnly renewed, in 
1 243, at Lyons, by his successor, Innocent IV., with all the 
ceremonies of "bell, book, and candle." Whilst the mem- 
bers of the Council chanted the "Te Deum Laudamits," 
the prelates, assisting, extinguished the torches they had 
held during the formalities, praying that in like manner 
the Emperor's glory and happiness might be extinguished 
on earth. So bitter an enemy of Frederick did Innocent 
show himself that, not satisfied with having resorted to 
the violent measure above stated, that Pontifli' went so 
far as even to pronounce the deposition of the Emperor 
from all his states and all his dignities. 

At this juncture a formidable influence militated in 
favour of the Papacy — the power of public opinion. 
Innocent IV. had heaped grave accusations against the 
Emperor: amongst others, that of contemning the 
Christian religion and the Holy Catholic Church, and 
of leaning towards the infidelity of the Saracens; this 
latter charge being seemingly confii-med by the fact of 
Frederick having employed Saracens in the war against 
the Lombard cities. To this must be added the vein of 
biting sarcasm which he had indulged at the expense 
of the Papacy without sufficient regard for its sacred 



140 HISTORY OF GERMANY, [PERIOD IV. 

functions. Neither, tinliappily, was his life pure and 
spotless, being habitually sullied by sensual excesses. 
He lost by degrees therefore the high estimation which 
he had formerly enjoyed, and the consciousness of this 
embittered his latter years and hastened his death. 

When the bulls of excommunication were scattered 
throughout Germany, several ecclesiastical princes made 
use of them to excite public opinion still further against 
Frederick; and, in 1246, caused the Landgrave of 
Thuringia, Henry Raspon, to be chosen Emperor in his 
place, at "Wutzburg. But this antagonist obtained no 
consideration, and died in the following year; and young 
William of Holland, who succeeded him, found but little 
support during the Emperor's lifetime. 

The greatest disorder now reigned both in Germany 
and Italy. "When the Emj^eror Frederick was placed 
under the ban of the Church," says an ancient historian, 
"the robbers rejoiced and congratulated one another on 
the booty which offered itself to their grasp. The plough- 
shares were beaten into swords and scythes into lances. 
No one walked about without carrying with him his flint 
and steel, in order to be ready to spread flames and ashes 
at any moment around him." In Italy the war went on 
without any decisive result, especially among the Lombard 
cities. The imperial arms were sometimes successful, but 
Frederick's genius became almost daily more and more 
enfeebled, and occasionally fortune altogether forsook him. 
Thus his son Enzio, whom he had made King of Sicily, 
the handsomest and most chivalrous of all his family, was 
taken prisoner by the Bolognese in an unlucky encounter 
near Fossalta. The exasperated citizens refused to accept 
any ransom, and condemned the prince to an imi^rison- 
inent which lasted twenty-two years; but he survived 
all Frederick's other sons and grandsons, who severally 
perished by poison, the sword, or the headsman. His 
chancellor and long-tried friend, Peter Desvignes, to whom 
he had trusted the most important affairs of his empire, 
having attempted his life by poison, Ava;s arrested, had 
his eyes put out, and destroyed himself by dashing his 



919-1273.] FREDERICK 11, 141 

head against the walls of his cell. The Emiieror did not 
long survive this series of disastrous events. He died in 
] 250, in the arms of Manfred, the son of his last wife 
Bianca, at the Castle of Eirenzuola, on the Ruhr, at the 
age of fifty-six, having worn seven crowns — the imperial, 
the German, the iron crown of Lombardy, and those of 
Burgundy, Sicily, Saixlinia, and Jerusalem. 

If, after tracing rapidly the main events of Frederick's 
stormy life, we glance at his intellectual qualities, and 
all he did for the arts and sciences in his hereditary 
dominions (Naples), we discover with regret that, at his 
death, everything disappeared like a phantom. Gifted 
with talents and acquii-ements possessed by few men of 
his time, he understood Greek, Latin, Italian, French, 
German, and Arabic. Among the sciences, his predi- 
lection was for natural history, which led him to form a 
menagerie of wild beasts, and he wrote a treatise on 
birds which is still extant. His instructor in the 
sciences was the celebrated Michael Scott, the translator 
of Aristotle's treatise on natural history, who figures as 
a necromancer in Sir Walter Scott's "Lay of the Last 
MinstreL" Frederick II. founded the university of 
Naples in 1224, and liberally patronised that of Salerno; 
and, thanks to his zeal, the first collection of objects of art 
were made in those cities, which, however, unfortunately 
disappeared during the troubles of the ensviing epoch. 

Like Charlemagne, it is recorded of Frederick II. that 
the eastern potentates were eager to testify their friend- 
ship by presenting him with curiosities and the most 
precious productions of art. His taste was exquisite, and 
his brilliant court in the beautiful land of Apulia, though 
tainted with sensuality, became the centre of all that was 
cultivated, learned, and luxurious. Intellectual contests, 
in which the victors were crowned, often took j^lace, and 
in them Fi'ederick shone as a poet, being the first who 
wrote verses in the vernacular dialect of Italy. His 
death threw that country into disorder and involved 
Germany in still worse calamities. In Germany there 
were again two Emperors, throne against throne. Whilst 



142 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD lY. 

the faction Inimical to tlie Holienstanfen recognised and 
sustained "William of Holland, the other had at their 
head Frederick's son Conrad, already elected King of 
the Romans in the lifetime of his father. 

William of Holland (1247-1256), and Conrad IV. 
(1250-1254). — Conrad, by his father's will, inherited with 
the imperial crown the sovereignty of Germany; but, 
engrossed with the recovery of his Italian dominions, he 
crossed the Alps in 1251, leaving his wife behind, w1k> 
in the following year gave birth to the unfortunate 
Conrad the younger, called by the Italians Conradino. 
Placed under the ban of the Church, like his father, 
immediately the news of his accession reached Rome, 
the Pope pronounced his title null, and sent out emis- 
saries to preach a crusade against him as an unbeliever 
and a heathen. Conrad, however, conquered Naples, 
but made the inhabitants his irreconcilable enemies by 
affixing a bridle to the statue of a horse which stood in 
the public square as the emblem of that city. On his 
return to Germany, he was confronted by his rival, 
William of Holland, in person at Oppenheim, and 
defeated. Shortly afterwards, Conrad fell sick and 
died, not without suspicion of having been poisoned. 
He was the last sovereign of the House of Hohenstaufen. 
Frederick had, indeed, left a second son, Henry, by his 
marriage with Isabella, a third, Manfred, by Bianca his 
third wife, and two grandsons of the unfortunate eldest, 
Henry; but they all died in the flower of their age, and 
nearly at the same time; so that at the death of Conrad 
IV. there only remained of the Hohenstaufen family the 
ill-fated Conradino and his brother Manfred. 

Death of William of Holland (1256).— The Emjoeror 
William did not long survive Conrad, and had been held 
in su.ch contempt that on one occasion he was pelted with 
stones by the people of Utrecht, and his wife assailed and 
plundered on the highway by a single citizen. In 1256, 
having marched against the Frieslanders, he perished in 
attempting to cross on horseback a frozen morass near 
Medenblick, the ice having broken under him. After 



919-1273.] CONRADINO. 143 

his death Germany became the seat of the most frightful 
disorders. 
The Interregnum (1256-1273).— The fortunes of the 

empire had now fallen so low that, with the exception 
of Ottocar, King of Bohemia, no German prince being- 
willing to accept the crown, the electoral body conceived 
the ignoble idea of electing some foreigner for Emperor 
who should bid highest for the title. The electors dis- 
agreed, however, in their choice, one party having chosen 
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III., King of 
England, who purchased the votes of the Archbishop of 
Mayence and his adherents for, in those days, a large sum 
of money, of which the Archbishop received 12,000 mai'ks, 
and every other elector 8000. The other party, at the 
head of which was the Archbishop of Treves, negotiated 
with Alfonso of Castile, surnamed The, Wise, who offered 
20,000 marks to each of the electors. Richard of Corn- 
wall, according to the contemporary chronicles, cari-ied 
the pui'chase money with him into Germany in thirty- 
two waggons, each drawn by eight horses, and laden with 
a hogshead of gold. With this treasure he conquered the 
hearts of the avaricious electors and was solemnly crowned 
at Aix. He soon afterwards, however, returned to Eng- 
land accompanied by many distinguished Germans, who, 
iinding themselves unpopular at the English court, made 
but a short stay therein. Richard thrice visited Germany, 
but each of his visits was of brief duration. As for 
Alphonso, he never entered that country. The Pope 
had continually promised to adjiidicate upon the claims 
of these two candidates, but his decision being deferred 
from year to year, disorder and violence in the meanwhile 
increased daily throughout the land; the petty princes, 
counts and knights, as well as the towns, were continually 
at war with one another, until the whole of Germany in 
this her darkest hour became a scene of bloodshed, pillage, 
and anarchy. 

Conradino, the last of the Hohenstaufen. — The fate of 
the last scion of the Hohenstaufen family was a sad one. 
Conradino of Swabia, son of Conrad IV., after his father's 



144 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

death, had been brought up in Bavaria, and later in Swabia, 
where he still possessed some small territories, whilst his 
uncle Manfred, at first in quality of regent, and later with 
the title of King, administered his hereditary states of 
Naples and Sicily. Clement IV., however, the iri-econ- 
cilable enemy of the Hohenstaufen, declared the throne 
of Apulia vacant; and wishing to get it out of the hands 
of the Ghibellines, or Emperor's party, offered it to 
Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX. of France. Of a 
very different character from the pious St. Louis, he was, 
"though brave and clever, ambitious, covetous, cruel, and 
unforgiving. This crown had fallen into the hands of 
the imperial family by the marriage of the heiress of the 
last Norman King of Sicily with the father of the Em- 
peror Frederick II. When Frederick died, the crown of 
the Sicilies — that is, the island of Sicily and the kingdom 
of Naples — was occupied as above stated, by Manfred his 
natural son. Charles of Anjou could not resist the temp- 
tation of being a King, and, in 1265, having collected an 
army, he encountered Manfred at Beneventum. Manfred, 
who had had the misfortune to lose by a sudden storm 
the fleet by which he might have prevented the landing 
of the French, was defeated and slain, and Charles took 
possession of his dominions. Charles began his reign 
with many acts of cruelty, among the rest by casting Man- 
fred's children into prison, where they ended their days. 

In 1267, the adherents of the Ghibellines in Apulia, 
disgusted with the cruelty and tyranny of Charles of 
Anjou, having invited young Conradino to resume the 
crown of which he had been unjustly deprived, several of 
the German princes joined him in an endeavour to drive 
the French out of Italy. Having crossed the Alps with 
10,000 men, Conradino made Verona his head-quarters, 
and during three months all the Ghibellines in Italy 
flocked to his standard. In a seiies of battles the French 
were invariably defeated, and Conradino at length, in 
despite of the Pope, entered Rome in triumph, and was 
escorted to the Capitol by a bevy of young maidens who 
scattered flowers along his path. But now the tide of 



919-1273.] CONRADINO. 145 

success turned against him. Near Tagliacozzo, in Apulia, 
his adversary confronted him at the head of a powerful 
force, and Conradino's army, after routing the Frencli, 
dispersed in search of booty, and falling into an ambus- 
cade, was cut to pieces by the enemy's rear-guard. Con- 
radino, after long fighting valiantly, escaped with his 
staunch adherent Frederick of Baden, through the speed 
of their horses; but having embarked on board a ship 
bound for Pisa, they were betrayed by Frangipani of 
Astura, and delivered ujd to Charles. A commission sat 
to determine their fate, and sentence of death being 
pronounced upon both as rebels, it was communicated 
to Conradino and Frederick whilst they Avere playing 
chess in their prison. When brought from his dungeon 
to ascend a scaffold erected in a market-place at Naples, 
the youth, eloquence, and exceptional beauty of the right- 
ful prince caused a deep sullen mui*mur to run through 
the crowd. Even the French were moved to tears; and 
when Robert of Bari advanced to read the sentence, he 
was instantly felled to the ground by Count Robert of 
Flanders, the usurper's son-in-law, and carried senseless 
away; but no attempt was made to rescue the condemned, 
Conradino now addressed the spectatoi'S, who listened in 
breathless sileaace to his last words. "I summon," he 
said, "my judges before the tribunal of the Most High. 
My innocent blood, shed on this scaffold, will cry to 
Heaven for vengeance : nor do I hold my Swabians and 
Bavarians, or my German people, so base and degenerate 
but that they will wash out in French blood this insult 
to their land." Having thus spoken he threw down his 
glove, which, a German knight took up and conveyed 
to Conradino's relative, Pedro III. of Arragon. Then, 
having removed his upper garment, the unfortunate prince 
embraced his friends, and murmuring some words about 
his mother, laid his head on the block. As the blood 
spouted up under the axe of the executioner, his fellow- 
sufferer, Frederick, uttered a dismal shriek and swooned, 
but was lifted up and executed with several others. 
Conradino, before ascending the scaffold, had ceded his 



146 HISTORY OF GErvMANY. [PERIOD IV. 

rights to Constance, the daugliter of Manfred, and it was 
through her that the murder of Conradino was at length 
fearfully avenged by the horrible conspiracy called the 
Sicilian Vespers. Easter Eve, 1282, was the day appointed 
for the massacre of the French; and the ringing of the 
vesper-bell was to be the signal to the assassins. At 
that hour, as the- French, in ignorant security, were 
sitting at supper, the infuriate Sicilians rushed upon 
them, and in the short space of two hours there was not 
a Frenchman left alive in Palermo, where the massacre 
began, with the excej^tion of one man alone, Guillaume 
de Povirceleto, a gentleman of Provence, whose life was 
sjiared on account of his extraordinaiy probity. Every 
other town in Sicily, in which any French were to be 
found, followed the example thus set by Palermo, and it 
is estimated that 8000 persons fell in this massacre. 
Though the conspiracy against Charles and his party had 
been long on foot, it is probable that the massacre itself 
was a sudden outbreak, and Sismondi represents it as such. 
When Charles of Anjou, who was at this time absent 
from Sicily, was informed of what had passed, he, furious 
with rage, hastened to Messina with all the forces ho 
could collect and laid siege to it; but the Sicilians who 
well knew his remorseless character, defended themselves 
with the courage of desperation, and Charles found him- 
self obliged to retire to Calabria and there wait for rein- 
forcements. Pedro, hoAvever, in spite of Charles's efforts, 
retained possession of the island; and, in 1285, amidst all 
the horrors of a guilty conscience, the murderer of the 
last Hohenstaufen ended his miserable life. 



FIFTH PERIOD. 

FROM BODOLPH I. OP HAPSBURa TO CHARLES V.-— 

(1273-1520). 

{Emperors of different Houses]. 

Rodolph of Hapsburg (1273-1291).— Tlie longer that 
anarchy prevailed in Germaiiy, the greater it became; 
and when Richard of Cornwall died in England, in 1272, 
as Alphonso of Castile gave himself very little trouble 
about the empire, the German princes assembled in Diet 
at Frankfort, in 1273, and having set his claims aside, 
proceeded to choose an Emperor, concerning whose fit- 
ness they should be unanimous. A strong and sagacious 
ruler was needed to re-establish the imperial dignity, and, 
on the other hand, one not too powerful, in order that 
the other princes should have nothing to fear for their 
own sway: one in short who would rule only in the 
manner which the Pope and the nobles might prescribe. 
This was no easy task. However, after considerable de- 
lay, an individual was found, who more than any other 
seemed to possess the necessary qualifications. In Count 
Rodolph of Hapsburg, it was the good fortune of Ger- 
many to find a man destined to restore peace to that 
distracted country. Distinguished as a* brave and success- 
ful warrior, yet possessing little weight by his slender 
possessions, he had nevertheless won the esteem alike of 
rich and poor by his noble qualities. Durmg the bar- 
barous period of the interregnum, he had resided on his 
patrimonial estates, and, so far as his arm could extend, 
he had protected tlie oppressed against the injustice and 
cruelty of brigandage. He was long the protector and 



148 



HISTOKY OP GERMANY. 



[period V. 



governor of Zuricli, Strasbourg, and the towns situated 
at the foot of Mount St. Gothard; during which rule he 
had signally displayed sagacity, equity, and magnanimity. 
His exterior was commanding, yet his demeanour frank 
and simple, his countenance pale and serious; and the 
Archbishop of Cologne, in a letter to the Pope, described 
him as " a sound Christian, a true friend of the Church, 
a lover of righteousness, mighty in his own strength, and 
allied with the mighty." 




MOUNT ST. GOTHARD. 

Rodolph, who did not dream of such elevation await- 
ing him, was at the moment at war with Basle, with the 
object of re-establishing therein the party of the nobles 
driven out by the citizens. It was in the dead of night 
that the burgrave of Nuremberg, Frederick de Hohen- 
zollern, Eodolph's father-in-law, came into his camp with 
that unexpected message. At first, Rodolph could not 
credit it; but when later the imperial marshal also 
arrived, he sent the burgrave into the city to offer peace 
to the citizens, because he was then, he said, the strongest. 
The besieged received the tidings very joyfully, and were 



1273-1520.] RODOLPH OF HAPSBtJKG. 149 

tlie first to otier up prayers for the jirosperity of his reign. 
Gregory X. went in pei'son to meet him at Lausanne, and 
there, kneeling at the Pope's feet, Ilodolj)h swore vincon- 
ditional obedience to the See of Rome. In after life he 
sought to justify this act of self-abasement. " I saw," ho 
said, "the traces of many footstejos. going into the lion's 
den, but none returning thence; therefore did I hold it 
for the truest wisdom to serve the lion of the church 
rather than to fight with him." From Lausanne, he re- 
paired to Frankfort to meet the assembled nobles, and 
thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he was solemnly crowned 
(21st Oct. 1273), in the presence of 20,000 knights, and 
a vast concourse of people. After the ceremony, when 
the princes of the empire were about to render homage 
to the new Emperor, according to custom, for their 
states, no sceptre was forthcoming, the regalia having 
been lost during the troubles which followed the death 
of Fi-ederick II. An embarrassing pause ensued, which 
was promptly broken by Rodolph taking the crucifix 
from the high altar, and administering on it the oath 
which had been usually sworn on the imperial sceptre : 
"The symbol of our redemption," he said, "might well 
sujjply its place." 

Rodoliih of Hapsburg began his reign by striking with 
all the severity of the law at the root of the evil by which 
Germany was oppressed, by purging his realm from in- 
tei-nal disorders. During the interregnum, the country 
had been the prey of the ii"on-handed marauder, and the 
license which prevailed was so great as to baffle descrip- 
tion : the entire land was infested by bands of robbers i 
no man's life or property being secure. But after he had 
succeeded in suppressing the robber chiefs and minor per- 
turbators, he was not long in perceiving that to give Ger- 
many lasting peace, and restore to the imperial dignity 
its psoper consideration, it was necessary for him to com- 
pel the great princes also to fulfil their duties and render 
him due homage. One of the conditions imposed on 
Rodolph at his election was, that he should humble the 
pride of Ottocar of Bohemia. Bodolph had been marshal 



150 HISTOEY OP GERMANS. [PERIOD V. 

of the palace to tliat King, and when, therefore, the Em- 
peror summoned him to do homage at the Diet of Nurem- 
berg, in 1274, Ottocar disdainfully replied: "What does 
that man want of me, have I not j^aid him his wages?" 
Ottocar was a powerful prince, and possessed, besides 
Bohemia, the hereditary states of Austria, which he had 
contrived to appropriate to himself after the extinction 
of the ducal house of Babenberg, partly by kinship and 
partly by force of arms and gold, and he thought that 
]io one could compel him to obedience. Moreover, the 
Austrian states preferred bitter complaints to the Em- 
peror of his oppression and injustice. Accordingly, Otto- 
car having refused to obey a third summons to Augsberg, 
in 1275, he was placed under the ban of the empire as 
a rebel; and such was the rage of this perfidious prince, 
that when the imperial heralds appeared at Prague to 
announce the sentence, he ordered them to be hanged 
over the chief entrance-gate of that city. But his punish- 
ment was not long delayed. Rodolph entered Austria 
early in the following" year, and reduced all that country 
under his power as far as Vienna, which he besieged. 
Ottocar, conscious of a bad cause, yielded without strik- 
ing a blow; surrendering Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and 
Carniola to the empii-e, but retaining Bohemia and Mor- 
avia to be held as fiefs, for which he was to do homage. 
In order fur-ther to consolidate the peace, a marriage was 
arranged between the heir presumptive of Bohemia, Win- 
ceslas, and one of the six daughters of Bodolph, and a 
second betweeia the Emperor's son and a princess of 
Bohemia. 

Ottocar soon afterwards repaired with great pomp to 
Rodolph's camp on the island of Lobau,, in the Danube, 
to do homage. This ceremony was attended by a bitter 
mortification for that haughty prince, who had hoped to 
eclipse by the splendour of his royal array the unostenta- 
tious simplicity so characteristic of the Emperor. "The 
King of Bohemia has often laughed at my old grey doub- 
let," said Kodolph; " to-day it is the tui-n of the old grey 
doublet to laugh at him." Thus, when Ottocar, resplen- 



l2t3-1520.] BoboLPH i. iSi 

clent in puii;)le and gold, was in the act of kneeling before 
the Emperor, the sides of the tent were suddenly drawn 
lip, so that he was seen by the whole army. Enraged at 
this humiliation, and the continual reproaches of his 
queen, Ottocar again unsheathed the sword against his 
suzerain, who encountered him (26th Aug. 1278) near 
Marchefeld, on the Morava. The battle was sanguinary 
and its issue long doubtful, and Rodolph, whose horse 
was knied under him, had a narrow escape from losing 
Lis life. At length, the rebels were put to flight, and 
Ottocai', fighting desperately, was slain by a Styrian 
knight, whose father he had cruelly put to death many 
years before, 

Rodolph. I, founds the Imperial Dynasty of Austria. 
— In a Diet at Augsbitrg (1282), in presence and with 
the consent of a crowd of pi-inces and nobles, E-odolj^h 
took solemn possession of Austria to the adA^antage of 
his own family, in fief, the conquest of which had cost 
the empire much blood and treasure; Eodolph of Haps- 
burg thus becoming the founder of the reigning dynasty 
of Austria. ^ . ' 

After settling other family aifairs, and having humbled 
the enemies of the empire, the Emperor, although now 
of an advanced age, set out on a progress through every 
part of Germany, listening to complaints and redressing 
grievances. During an expedition through Thuringia, 
he caused sixty-six castles of the robber nobles to be 
demolished, and twenty-nine of their owners to be hanged 
in chains at Erfurt. Thus occupied at home, he had not 
time to think seriously of visiting Italy, in order to be 
crowned there. Moi'eover, he was so far from sharing 
the opinions of his predecessors touching that country, 
that, in a treaty with Gregoiy X., he ceded all the rights 
of the empire over the territories of the church. He 
could congratulate himself on having thus got rid of that 
destructive allurement which had led former Emjierors to 
vmdertake expeditions into Italy. 

Rodolph, towards the close of his reign, urged the 
Diet of Frankfort to recognise bis son as Emperor; but 



152 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

the gi'eat princes, jealous and already tired of Rodolj)li's 
government wliicli they found too rigorous, because lie 
hindered them from pursuing their particular interests, 
rejected that pi'oposal; so much the more fii'mly that 
they thought that if the son should succeed his father, 
the empire would cease to be elective. Thereupon E,o- 
dolph retired, weaiy, sick, and discontented to Basle. 
For a year afterwards his physicians prolonged his life 
only by artificial means. He died at Germershein on the 
30th Sept. 1291, universally lamented, aged seventy-four. 
His memory was so venerated in Germany that long after 
his death the phrase was in common use : — " That is not 
the loyalty of Rodolph." 

In the afiairs of Italy he took so little interest that he 
would not visit it, even to receive the imi^erial crown ; he 
compared it to the lion's den, whitened with bones of the 
Emperors, his predecessors. His reign exhibited a re- 
markable novelty — internal tranquillity. He not only 
preserved peace with his neighbours, but with a firm 
hand he suppressed private war in every quarter, razed the 
bandit fortresses to the ground, and hung the inmates 
by scores. His j)robity became a proverb. " His very 
name," says a contemporary chronicler, "spread terroi 
among the turbulent barons, joy among the people; as light 
springs from darkness, so peace arose from desolation." 
Well may the house of Austria glory in its founder ! 

He was accessible to the humblest of his jDeople. See- 
ing one day that his guards were preventing the approach 
of some poor men, he cried out, " Let them appi'oach, I 
was not made Emperor to be excluded from my fellow 
creatures !" But his highest eulogy is to be found in his 
conduct as a sovereign. 

Adolph of Nassau (1292-1298). — The claim of Ko- 
dolph's son to the crown was set aside through the craft 
of Gerald, Ai'chbishop of Mayence. That corrupt and 
wicked prelate, by bribing the chief electors with large 
sums of money, secured the nomination of his cousin 
Adolph, Count of Nassau. He was prompted to this 
unscrupulous manceuvre by the expectation of finding in 



1273-1520.] ADOLPH OF NASSAU. 153 

Adolijli a willing agent for tlie accomplisliment of Lis 
own ambitious schemes. This Count of Nassau, though 
brave even to ferocity, had neither sufficient jDrudence, 
power, nor consideration, to entitle him to such a dignity. 
As he had inherited no more than half the country of 
Nassau, he enlarged his territories by the purchase of 
Meissen and Thuringia from Albert the Degenerate with 
a large sum of money he received from Edward I. of 
England as a subsidy towards the expenses of aiding the 
English king in a war against Philip of France. The 
quarrel of the two kings having been suspended, Adolph 
did not hesitate to use the money as above stated. 

Albert the Degenerate, the bad Margrave of Thuringia, 
had repudiated his wife, the virtuous Margaret, daughter 
of Frederick II., to espouse Cunegonde of Isenburg. 
When the persecuted mother was forced to separate from 
her children, she, in the excess of her grief, bit severely 
in the cheek the eldest, Frederick, as a lasting reminder 
of his pai-ent's wrongs. The tmhappy Margaret died 
shortly afterwards at Frankfort, and her sons fled from 
the roof of their unnatural father, but were soon retaken 
and thrown into prison, where they would have perished, 
had not a faithful servant brought them bread, and ulti- 
mately supplied them with the means of escape. This 
execrable margrave further sold the hereditary posses- 
sions of the children of his first marriage, and gave the 
proceeds to Albert, the son of Cunegonde. But, when 
the wronged sons of Margaret were old enough to bear 
arms, they fought vigorously for their inheritance against 
Adolph and their father, universally assisted by the 
people, who had grown weary of the tyranny of their 
depraved and detested sovereign. Happily, the exertions 
of the two brothers were at length rewarded by a partial 
recovery of their territories. 

The unworthy conduct of Adolph had not only excited 
the hatred of the German people, but the Archbishop 
Gerald, disappointed at not finding him the ready tool 
he had expected, broke with him; and, at that tricky 
prelate's instigation,_ aided by bribery, a new Diet was 



16 i klSTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

assembled at Mayence, whicli accused tlie Emperoi* of 
despoiling the Church, of receiving the pay of a prince 
inferior to himself (Edward I. of England), and of having 
dismembered the empire instead of aggrandised it; and, 
finally, of not having maintained it in peace. Upon 
these charges the Electors declared the throne vacant, 
and Albert Duke of Austria was chosen to fill it. This 
was the first instance of the deposition of an Emperor by 
the electoi'al princes alone, without any instigation of the 
Pope. 

The two adversaries marched against each other, and 
fought a decisive battle near Worms in 1298. Adolph 
was defeated, and slain in the thick of the fight, some 
annalists say by the hand of Albert himself. 

Albert of Austria (1298-1308).— This new Emperor 
had neither the mildness nor the afiability of his father; 
on the contrary, he was as unprepossessing in disposition 
as he was ill-favoured of face, the loss of an eye giving a 
sinister expression to the singularly rep»ulsive ugliness of 
the other features. A life of intiigue, danger, and crime, 
had lent a look of gloom and severity to his countenance, 
which even the biilliance of his coronation atl Nurem- 
berg could not dispel. Cold and obdurate, his severity 
towards the Archbishoj) Gerald of Mayence was perhaps 
deserved, that wily prelate having threatened him that, 
with one blast of his horn, he could call up as many 
emperors as he pleased. He had, in fact, chosen another. 
Albert reduced him quickly to submission, and forced 
him to ask pardon. But, in many other instances, his 
actions were not guided by justice. They had the result, 
at least, of gaining for him an extension of territory; 
and he was already contemplating the acquisition of 
Thuringia, Bohemia, and Holland, when an event 
occux-red which put an end to his ambitious jirojects. 

In 1308, the three Swiss cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and 
Unterwalden, having revolted against the Dukes of 
Austria, Albert swore to wreak sanguinary vengeance 
upon the rebellious mountaineers. In an expedition he 
undertook to the Swiss frontiers with the purpose of 



1273-1520.] ALBERT OF AUSTRIA, 155 

raising forces for tlie suppression of the revolt, and after- 
Avards making war upon Bohemia, he took Avith him 
his nephew, John of Bohemia, the son of his deceased 
brother Bodolph, from whom he had withheld his patri- 
monial inheritance of Hapsburg, although only his 
guardian. In vain had the young man often implored 
his uncle to restore those possessions of which the younger 
branch of the family had been unjustly deprived; but his 
prayers were always met with a refusal. At length, 
associating himself with some discontented nobles who 
nourished a secret hatred against Albert, four of them 
resolved to assassinate him. 

On the first day of May 1 308, the Emperor was riding 
slowly with a few attendants through the fields at the 
foot of the hills crowned by the castle of Hapsburg, nob 
far from which his camp was pitched. The ferry by 
which the retinue had to cross the Reuss being already 
in sight, the conspirators pressed onwards to enter the 
small boat that was to convey the Emperor, in order to 
separate him from his escort. Having reached the river, 
John and his fellow conspirators, rushing forwards, suc- 
ceeded in entering the boat with the Emperor and one 
solitary attendant. On landing they remounted and 
rode at a smart pace until they gained a sort of coppice, 
the thick growth of which hid them from the sight of the 
rest of the retinue, who were waiting on the other bank 
for the return of the boat. Suddenly John seized his 
uncle's bridle-rein, and shouted loudly and energetically, 
" Let us now see whether the possessions of my father 
wUl be restored to nie." The Emperor, though startled, 
preserved his presence of mind, and tried to calm his 
nephew by fair promises; but the matter had gone too 
far. " How long will ye suffer this carrion to sit on 
horseback 1 " passionately exclaimed Budolph of Balm, 
as he stabbed the Emi:>eror with his dagger, whilst at the 
same moment Walter d'Eschenbach clove his skull with 
the blow of a sword. Albert fell to the ground senseless, 
bathed in his blood, A poor woman who witnessed the 
deed hastened to render the wounded monarch assistance 



IjG history of GEliMANY. [PERIOD V. 

by trying to staunch tlie blood; but the blows dealt by the 
assassins were mortal, and in a few moments lie died in 
her arms. John fled into Italy, and, stung by remorse at 
a sense of his guilt, he threw himself at the Pope's feet, 
who sentenced him, at the request of the Emperor, Henry 
YII. (of Luxemburg), to confinement for life in an Augus- 
tine convent at Pisa, One of the assassins, Wart, was 
arrested and broken on the wheel at the spot where the 
murder was committed. His crushed and mangled limbs 
were transferred to another wheel, and set \ip on a pole 
by the wayside, where he was left to die a lingering death. 
His wife, Adelaide de Sargans, who was taken with him, 
shared his dungeon with a babe at her breast. The child 
died from want of food, the mother's milk failing. Ade- 
laide, on the day of her husband's execution, having 
obtained her release from pi'ison, witnessed his torture 
and strove to alleviate his sufierings by her affectionate 
care, remaining day and night beneath the wheel to 
moisten his parched lips with a sponge dipped in water. 
"When all was over she entered a convent at Basle, where 
the faithful relict of Wart soon afterwards died of grief. 
The remains of the late Emperor Avere laid, with all 
marks of respect and honour, by the side of his predeces- 
sor, Adolph, in the cathedral of Spires. 

Frederick "with the bitten cheek," also expired (a.d. 
1319), worn oiit with toil and laden with years, after 
having succeeded in recovering his family rights. He 
was succeeded in Meissen by his son, Erederick the 
Stern. 

The Swiss War of Independence— William Tell. — 
Switzerland originally formed a part of the kingdom of 
Aries or Burgundy, and was united later on to the rest 
of the dominions of Podolph. It contained a numerous 
and powerful nobility, and several rich ecclesiastical 
lords. Its towns of Zurich, Basle, Berne, and Friburg 
rose into importance. Among the nobles the Counts of 
Hapsburg gradually became the most powerful ; they 
were advocates to several convents, some of which had 
estates in the forest- cantons of Schwvtz and Underwald. 



1273-1320.] SWISS AVAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 



157 



The people of these caiitons reposed confidence in Ro- 
dolph, the first Emperor of the House of Hipsbur" • but 
they distiusted his son the cokl \m\ liLutless Albcjt, 
■who justified then sus| i i ii i ] ( t f 1 ^^ itli the 




c\TnEDP\L sni ES 
righto vvhiuh, as advocate of the conveiits, he pOosei:>sed 
over a part of the forest-cantons, he, wishing to annex 
them to the duke-dom of Austria, sent imperial bailifis to 
administer iustice in the whole of these cantons. The 



158 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PEUIOD V. 

people "wei'e indignant at this attempt to reduce them to 
servitude. Three men, Staufiacber of Schwytz, Furst of 
Uri, Melclitlial of Unterwald, each with ten companions, 
met by night in a secret valley, and swore to assert the 
liberty of their country. It was, therefore, the encroach- 
ments of ducal, not imperial tyranny, that drove these 
brave mountaineers to vindicate their independence with 
the sword. The encroachments which the confederates 
of Gruttli pledged themselves to withstand was the 
attempt to degrade their land from being a free fief of 
the empii-e into becoming a part of the hereditary posses- 
sions of the House of Austria. 

William Tell, a brave and honest peasant, was the 
popular hero of this band of liberators, who, driven at 
length into open rebellion by a series of insults offered to 
them by Gessler, the Austrian bailiff of Uri, made a suc- 
cessful stand against the tyrannical Duke Albert. Seve- 
ral circumstances of his life, even his existence, have 
been doubted; but it seems clearly jDroved that he really 
shared in the struggles and deliverance of his country. 
Born at Burghen, in the canton of Uri, he married the 
daughter of Walter Furst of Altinghausen, who had taken 
the oath'^(7th Sept. 1307) at the Gruttli with Arnold de 
Melchthal and Wei^ner de Stauffacher. Gessler had 
caused to be fixed upon a pole in the market-place of 
Altorf a hat (the ducal hat according to John de MuUer), 
commanding the Swiss to bow their heads whilst passing 
it. Tell indignantly refused to obey that humiliating 
order. The tyrant, furious at the audacity of the recu- 
sant, compelled him, under pain of death, to shoot an 
arrow, at a distance of one hundred and twenty paces, 
through an apple placed upon the head of the youngest 
of his b03^s (18th Nov. 1307). Tell shot so true that he 
pierced the apple without harming his son. Gessler then 
perceiving a second arrow hidden beneath his belt, asked 
him what it was for. Tell would have excused himself 
by saying that it was the common custom of archers; but 
Gessler, seeing him confused, pressed him to disclose the 
real reason, promising that, whatever he might say, hig 



1273-1520,] WILLIAM TELL, 159 

life should be safe. " Well, then," replied William Tell, 
" I will speak the truth. If I had slain my sou, the 
second arx'ow should have pierced thy heart." " I pro- 
mised thee thy life," replied Gessler; ''but since thou art 
thus evil disposed towards me, I will send thee to a place 
where thou shalt never see sun or moon more." Gessler 
then caused him to be loaded with chains, and thrown 
into a boat; and, fearing lest he should be rescued by 
his companions, he determined to conduct him himself to 
the strong fortress of Kussnacht, They embarked x;pon 
the lake of the Four Cantons; and scarcely were they in 
front of the Gruttli than the jocher, an impetuous wind 
fron the south which often blows in these reoions, raised 




TELL'S CHAPEL, 

a violent storm, which rendered the small skiff unman- 
ageable. Tell was known to be a skilful boatman, and 
he averred that he could steer the skiff to a point where 
they could land safely. Gessler, terrified, consented to 
his chains being taken off, and trusted him with the 
helm. Tell directed the boat shorewards towards a rocky 
platform which still bears the name of TelPs Leap, situ- 
ated on the Schwytz shore. There, snatching his boAv, 
he sprang ashore from the skiff, thrusting it back with 
his foot, thereby leaving his enemy exposed to the fury 
of the waves. Gessler^ however, escaped also, and con- 



160 HISTORY OF GERMANY, [PERIOD Y. 

tinued liis way by laud towards Kussnaclit. Toll waited 
for him by the roadside, until be bad entered a bollow, 
woody pass, and, watching bis opportunity, took a steady 
aim at tbe tyrant, and sent an arrow tbrough bis beart. 
After tbis exjjloit, Tell's life becomes obscure. We learn 
only tbat be fougbt in tbe battle of Morgarten (1315), 
and tbat be died at Bingen, receiver of tbe cburcb of 
tbat city in 1354. His death was another devoted act, 
for he perished in an attempt to save a child who bad 
fallen into a torrent. The gOA^ernor of Uri decreed that, 
on the anniversary of his death, a sermon should be 
delivered at the spot wbei-e stood tbe house of Tell, " our 
beloved citizen, and restorer of our liberties, in eternal 
memory of Heaven's benefits, and the happy deeds of the 
hero." Thirty years later a chapel was built upon the 
site on which that bouse bad stood. 

Henry VII. of Luxemburg (1308-1313). — On the 
tragical death of Albert, the crown of Germany was 
claimed by Philip the Handsome (le Bel) of France for 
bis' brother Charles; the electors, however, dreaded bis 
power, and refused to elect him. The eyes of many 
princes were turned to Frederick, Duke of Austria; but 
the father had never been popular; and the cruelty with 
which some of the members of tbe family, especially 
Agnes bis daughter, widow of Andrew III. King of Hun- 
gary, revenged tbe murder of that monarch, increased tbe 
feeling of dissatisfaction. Through the intrigues of Peter, 
archbishop of Mentz, the election fell on Henry, Count 
of Luxemburg, brother of Baldwin, archbishop of Treves. 
Henry was proclaimed Emperor at Reuse (1308), near 
Braubach, on the left bank of the Rhine, and there 
crowned, Tbe two other ci'owns, the iron one in Lom- 
bardy, and the imperial croAvn, were still in Italy. 
Henry was one of the noblest monarchs who ever sat on 
the throne of Germany. Deeply conscious of the duties 
imposed upon him by bis station, he followed in the steps 
of Charlemagne and Barbarossa, and worthily ui^beld tbe 
dignity and honour of the empire, ever remaining a 
stranger to the petty policy of bis late predecessors, who 



1273-1520.] LOUIS V. 161 

sacrificed the state foi' the sake of increasing the wealth 
and influence of their own houses. 

The reign of Henry VII. was destined to be short. His 
predecessors, during half a centuiy, had wisely refrained 
from interfering in the affairs of Italy; and had thereby 
avoided the unhappy fate of many whose bones, as 
Rodolph truly observed, whitened that den of wild beasts. 
But dazzled by his unexpected elevation, and that of his 
son, who acquired the crown of Bohemia by his marriage 
with Elizabeth, grand-daughter of Ottocar, he resolved, in 
a fatal hour, to restore the supremacy of the empire over 
Lombardy and Tuscany. His transactions in Italy must 
be sought in the histories of that country. Here we need 
only observe, that, though for a moment Lombardy sub- 
mitted, and he received the imperial crown at Rome from 
the hands of three cardinals, to whom Clement V. (still 
at Avignon) delegated the necessary powers, he suddenly 
died at Buonconventi, near Sienna, poisoned during supper 
by a monk (August 24, 1313). With his expiring breath 
he said to his murderer : " You have given m.e death in 
the cup of life, but fly, ere my followers seize you ! '' The 
death of Henry replunged Germany into horrors to which, 
since the extinction of the Swabian line of emperors, it 
had been a stranger. 

Louis V. of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria (1314- 
1347). — On the death of the noble-hearted Emperor, the 
empire again fell a prey to the adverse factions of the 
Guelphs and Ghibellines. The rancour of the Papal 
French party had been again excited by Henry's expedi- 
tion to Rome, and the Hapsburgs once more appeared on 
the scene as its supporters and tools. Frederick the Hand- 
some was, consequently, zealously recommended by the 
Pope as the successor to the crown, for which a com- 
petitor also appeared in the person of John of Bohemia, 
the son of the late Emperor; but his youth proved the 
chief obstacle, and, after some consideration, he ceded his 
rights in favour of Louis of Bavaria, Although Louis 
was a member of the Aiistro-Hapsburg family, his mother 
being a daughter of Rodolph I., he bad always been the 

L 



1G2 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

enemy of tlie Austrian princes, and in the same degree 
the ally of the Luxemburg factions. The two candidates 
being respectively crowned Kings of the Komans — Louis 
at Aix-la-Chapelle, by the Archbishop of Mentz, Erederick 
at Bonn, by the Metropolitan of Cologne, a civil war was 
inevitable : neither had virtue enough to sacrifice his own 
rights to the good of the state. As both had great mili- 
tary talents, equal enterprise and resolution, the contest 
could not fail to be severe and protracted. Fortunately 
for Louis, the Austrian forces were defeated by the hardy 
natives of Helvetia, who from hatred to the memory of 
Albert and his rapacious officers, had declared for the 
Bavarian and Bohemian faction. Yet, after all, the con- 
test would have ended in favour of the Austrians, but 
for the rashness of Frederick, who, in September 1322, 
without waiting for the arrival of his brother Leopold, 
assailed Louis not far from Milhldorf in Lower Bavaria. 
"With his usual magnanimity, Frederick, considering that 
the pre-eminence of danger was his proper duty, arrayed 
himself in splendid armour, on which was emblazoned the 
cognizance of his house; and on his head he wore a helmet 
surmounted by a crown, thus exhibiting himself on the 
one hand as the rallying point of his followers, on the 
other as a mark to the enemy. Louis who was more 
prudent though not less brave, jDlaced himself in the 
centre; but distrusting his own talents as a general, he 
left the command to Schweppermanii, one of the most 
experienced captains of the age. The battle was main- 
tained with equal valour from the rising to the setting 
sun; and was evidently in favour of the Austrians, when 
an unexpected charge in flank by a body of cavalry under 
the Margrave of Nuremberg decided the fortune of the 
day. Frederick was surrounded and taken prisoner. 
The flower of the Austrian nobility, among others three- 
and-twenty of the family of Trautmannsdorf, strewed the 
field. After the battle, Louis gratefully acknowledged 
the services of his commander-in-chief Schweppermann, 
to whose skill he entirely owed his success. A basketful 
of eggs being all that could be found for the imperial 



1273-1520.] .LOUIS V. 163 

table, the Emperor distributed them among his officel-s, 
saying: " To each of you one egg, to our gallant Schwep- 
permann two!" The latter was of dimimitive stature, 
old and lame, but skilled in the tactics of the time. The 
Emperor's words on this occasion may be still read on this 
officer's tombstone at Castel, near Amberg. Frederick 
was imprisoned in the castle of Trausnitz, near Landshut. 
But the contest was not yet decided ; the valiant 
Leopold was still at the head of a superior force; and 
Pope John XXII.,* the natural enemy of the Ghibellines, 
incensed at some succours which Louis sent to that party 
in Lombardy, excommunicated the King of the Romans, 
and declared him deposed from his dignity. By Leopold 
he was signally defeated; and he had the mortification 
to see the inconstant King of Bohemia join the party of 
Austria. In this emergency, his only chance of safety 
Avas a reconciliation with his enemies; and Frederick 
was released on condition of his renouncing all claim to 
the empii-e. But though Frederick sincerely resolved to 
fulfil his share of the compact, Leopold and the other 
princes of the family refused; and their refusal w^as 
approved by the Pope. With the magnanimity of his 
character, Frederick, unable to execute the engagements 
he had made, voluntarily surrendered himself to his 
enemy. But Louis, who would not be outdone in gene- 
rosity, received him, not as a prisoner, but a friend. 
" They ate," says a contemporary writer, " at the same 
table, slept on the same couch;" and when the King left 
Bavaria, the administration of that duchy was confided 
to Frederick. Two such men could not long remain even 
politically hostile; arid by another treaty (September 2, 
1325), it was agreed that they should exercise conjointly 
the government of the empire. When this arrangement 
was condemned both by the Pope and the electors, Louis 

* This Pontiff surpassed most of his predecessors in pride and 
tyranny. He kept his seat on the Papal chair, having humbled 
his competitor, Nicholas V. , and left at his death an immense 
treasure, accumulated by the sale of benefices, while his rival, 
the Emperor, died in indigence. 



164 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

proposed to take Italy as Ms seat of government, and 
leave Germany to Frederick. But the death of the war- 
like Leopold — the great support of the Austrian cause — 
and the continued opposition of the States to any com- 
l^romise, enabled Louis to retain the sceptre of the king- 
dom; and in 1330, the decease also of Frederick strength- 
ened his party. 

Louis V. reigns alone. — But his reign was destined 
to be one of troubles. The year following the victory of 
Muhldoi'f, Louis had been cited to appear to plead before 
the Pope at Avignon; and, on his refusal to appear, the 
whole empire was placed under an interdict. Louis 
retaliated by passing into Italy, and assuming the iron 
crown at Milan; after which he pronounced the ban of 
the empire against the King of Naples; and, deposing the 
Pope, placed on the Papal throne a Minorite monk, 
Nicholas Y,, by whom he was crowned at Rome. As, by 
the death of Fredeiick, Louis had become sole Emperor, 
he, after his return to Germany, summoned a Diet at 
Reuse on the Rhine, where the electors made the follow- 
ing declaration : — " That the German Emperor was the 
highest power on earth, and dependent for his election on 
none but the princes of Germany." This decree was at 
once signified to the Pope by a special letter. 

But now Louis impinidently compromised himself in 
the eyes of his subjects by an act of treachery towards a 
foreign ally. Edward III. of England being engaged in 
a sanguinary war with France, Louis at first embraced 
his cause, but soon with strange fickleness deserted that 
alliance, and attached himself to the Fi'ench, the enemies 
of his country and of freedom, and sent his own son Louis 
with an army to act against England. 

The adversaries of Louis, particularly Clement VI., 
carried their animosity so far as to elect, in 1346, in an. 
assembly which included certain princes, as Emperor of 
Germany, the son of King John of Bohemia, Charles, 
Margrave of Moravia, a prince who had been brought up 
in the court of France.. He enjoyed no consideration so 
long as Louis lived; but that unfortunate Emperor w£V8 



1273-1520.] CHARLES IV. 165 

killed ill tlie year following, during a bear hunt, by a blow 
intended for the animal whilst at bay. Louis was the 
last Emperor excommunicated by the Popes. 

Charles IV. (1346-1378).— Twelve months before the 
decease of Louis, Charles of Bohemia, assisted by Clem- 
ent VI., was elected King of the Romans. But in re- 
turn he had signed a shameful capitulation with the Tope 
— one by which the state, no less than the church of 
Germany, was placed at the feet of that haughty and 
corrupt Pontiff. For this and other reasons many of the 
princes were now unwilling to confirm the election. Four 
of them had offered the imperial crown to the conqueror 
of Crecy, which the English Parliament, fearing lest an 
Emperor of Germany might forget his duty as King of 
England, would not permit him to accept. An anti- 
Ctesar, however, was found in Gunther, Count of Schwart- 
zenburg, a prince of great military reputation, and the 
unshaken friend of the deceased sovereign. This opposi- 
tion was inevitable in a country where the two rival 
families of Luxemburg and Austria were pursuing each 
other with deadly animosity. Charles IV., however, 
craftily entered into negotiation with Edward of England, 
to Avhom he proved the necessity of an alliance between 
them against France, drew the Hapsburg army on his 
side by giving his daughter, Catherine, in marriage to 
Rodolph the son of Albert the Lame; and, with equal 
skill, dissolved the Wittelsbach confederacy by wedding 
Anna, the daughter of the Pfalzgrave Bupert, by ceding 
Brandenburg to Louis the Elder, and declaring Walde- 
mar, whom he had himself invested with that electorate, 
an impostor; Louis the Elder, with equal perfidy, sacri- 
ficing Gunther, who was shortly afterwards poisoned by 
one of Charles's emissaries, a.d. 1347. Charles IV., the 
tool of Papal and French policy, now found himself con- 
strained, owing to his dependence ujDon his father, to 
serve the French monarch against England, although, as 
will be hereafter seen, he was too prudent a politician 
and too sensible of his dignity to allow himself to be 
long enchained to the petty interest of the French king. 



iG6 niSTOUY OP GERMANY. [pERIOD V. 

Edward of England, on landing in Flanders, was, notwith- 
standing tlie death of Artevelde, who, falsely suspected 
of a design of selling Flanders to England, had been 
assassinated by his countrymen, received with open arms 
by the citizens, and joined by Henry the Iron, of Hol- 
stein. The French suffered a total defeat at Crecy (A.ug. 
26, 1346). The Emperor's behaviour on this occasion 
was far from heroic, for he was among the first to flee, 
whilst his brave father, King John of Bohemia, who had 
been blind for many years,* bound between two knights, 
l^lunged headlong into tlie thickest of the fight, ra. the 
vain hope of turning the battle. "With him fell Rodolph 
of Lotharingia, Louis of Nevers, and all the Germans 
who had so uselessly ventiired their honoiir and their 
lives in a stranger's cause, in that of their hereditary foe. 
When the death of the German princes was told to the 
English king, he exclaimed: " ye Germans! how could 
ye die for a French king ! " The sword of the blind 
Bohemian king bore the inscription " Icli dien ! " I serve, 
tliat is, " God, the ladies, and right," which was on this 
occasion assumed by the Prince of "Wales as his motto. 

In 1355, Charles published the imperial constitution, 
termed the Golden Bull (so called from the knob of gold 
bidla cmrea in which its seal is inclosed), which definitely 
fixed the number and prerogatives of the electors, and 
became the fundamental law of the empire. The number 
of electors was fixed, in conformity with ancient custom, 
at seven, who were to represent the seven candlesticks 
of the Apocalypse, and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. 
Thus Charles settled on them — himself as King of Bo- 
hemia being one — all the hereditary ofiices of the state, 
and imj^rudently placed in their hands the whole power 
of the empire. 

Of Charles's foreign policy little need be said. He 
observed ti-eaties with France or England just so long as 
suited his interests. Into Italy he twice descended; 
once to receive the imperial crown, the second time under 

* John had lost one of his eyes during his Polish expedition, 
the other through the ignorance of his medical attendants. 



1273-1520.] THE BLACK DEATH. l67 

pretext of restoring tlie supremacy of the empire. In 
both expeditions he sold its rights to the highest bidder, 
and returned to Germany, followed by the curses or the 
contempt, not merely of Italy, but of Europe. Cowardly 
in his nature, he carefully avoided the field of battle; 
avaricious beyond example, he made everything venal; 
faithless in his engagements, he sacrificed his most 
devoted adherents every moment he could do so with 
advantage; incapable of justice, or humanity, or any 
good principle, he hesitated at no means by which his 
ends could be attained. In his opinion the only use of 
the empii-e was the power to pillage it; of the imperial 
crown, to exchange its dignity for something more sub- 
stantial. Though wholly destitute of comprehensive 
views he must have had talent of some kind, or he could 
never have brought Brandenburg, Silesia, Lusatia, and a 
portion of the Upper Palatinate into his family; and 
that, too, without shedding one drop of blood. Nor must 
it be forgotten that he extended the commerce, encouraged 
the industry, and promoted the prosperity of Bohemia — 
of the empire he was utterly regardless — and that he 
founded the University of Prague, the first that ever 
existed in Germany. But if his memory be dear to his 
own kingdom, it is odious to any right-minded German. 
Charles died in 1378, on liis return from France, whither 
he had gone for the purpose of establishing peace between 
that country and Germany. 

The Black Death (1349). — Early in this reign the most 
destructive plague recorded in modern history raged in 
every part of Germany. Beginning in the northern parts 
of Asia, it penetrated to the most distant regions of 
Europe, destroying one-third of the inhabitants of every 
country through which it passed. The narrative of this 
terrible pestilence, commonly called " the Black Death," 
of its phj^sical effects, and its moral influence among a 
more refined and polished people, which Boccacio has 
prefixed to his Dccamerone, is not surpassed even by the 
accounts of a similar visitation left us by the greatest 
writers of antiquity. But in Germany, to the evils ii\- 



168 HISTOHY OF GERMANY, [PERIOB V. 

separable from sucli a calamity, were added all the 
horrors arising from the power of superstition acting 
upon a brutal and ignorant populace. The Jews, always 
the first object of popular antipathy, were accused by 
some fanatics termed Flagellants, who had acquired extra- 
ordinary influence by the severity of their mortifications, 
of having caused the prodigious mortality by infusing 
poison into the wells and foimtains. This absurd rumour 
was secretely propagated and encouraged by the nobles, 
who were deeply indebted to this unhappy race, and who 
hoped to escape all payment by the destruction of their 
creditors. The people needed but a hint from their 
leaders to begin hostilities against a race whom they 
hated for their religion, and envied for their wealth. 
Their rage broke out with incredible fury; at Mentz and 
other cities the most excruciating torments were inflicted 
upon the Jewsj at Strasburg 2000 were burned alive on 
one pile. It was long before the massacre was stopped 
by the civil magistrate, and few escaped from the rage of 
the frantic multitude, animated to their destruction by 
the appetite of plunder, the desire of revenge, and the 
belief that the slaughter of infidels was the most accept- 
able sacrifice they could ofier to the Almighty. The in- 
terior police of Germany was at that time extremely 
defective; many of the nobles were combined in regular 
associations far plunder; nor could any efiectual check 
be given to these disorders under the reign of a prince 
whose timid caution and narrow judgment sacrificed 
every other consideration to his present interests, and all 
of whose measures wore the stamp of concession, and of 
indifference to the dignity of his station. 

Wenceslaus (1378-1400).— In the last will of Charles 
the eldest son had Bohemia and Silesia; Sigismund, the 
second, had the March of Brandenburg; John, the 
youngest, had Schweidnitz, Goeilitz, and Lusatia. In 
virtue of the preceding election Wenceslaus also succeeded 
to the Germanic throne. The reign of this prince is the 
most remarkable in the annals of the empire. Called at 
too early an age to participate in the imperial government, 



1S73-1520.] WEis^CESLAtJS, 169 

Wenceslaus treated affairs of state with ridicule, or 
entirely neglected tliem, in order to give himself np to 
idleness or drunkenness. At one moment he jested, at 
another burst into the most brutal fits of rage. The Ger- 
mans, with whom he never interfered beyond occasionally 
holding a useless Diet at Nuremberg, deemed him a fool; 
whilst the Bohemians, who, on account of his residence 
at Prague, were continually exj^osed to his savage caprices, 
regarded him as a furious tyrant. Sunk in the lowest 
sensuality, " semper edendo ac hihendo" says a chronicler, 
he seems to have dissipated the few mental powers which 
nature had given him. To gluttony, drunkenness, and 
other vices he soon added murder. Sending for the 
ghostly confessor of his wife, he insisted on knowing 
what were the peccadilloes she had disclosed; and when 
promises, threats, even imprisonment, were employed in 
vain to shake the reticence of the priest, he caused him to 
be thrown from the bridge of Prague into the river. A 
solitary murder, even though the victim was a priest, 
would have led to no consequences either in Bohemia, 
which' had been used to such tragedies, or at the Papal 
court, since the Christian world was now distracted by 
the schism; but the number of victims is said to have 
been great. He is even reported to have constantly kejit 
near him a butcher to execute his sentences, at which he 
was always jjresent with delight. Though this account 
may be safely rejected, it proves the degree of estimation 
in which he was held; and we may certainly admit that 
a butcher was one of his boon companions, who were 
always chosen from the dregs of society. The possessions 
with which tlie Bohemian nobility had formerly been 
invested by the crown exciting his cupidity, he invited 
the whole of the aristocracy to meet him at Willamow, 
where he received t^' -'^\ under a black tent, that opened 
on either side into a"' hite and a red one. The nobles 
were allowed to enter one by one, and were commanded 
to declare what lands they possessed as gifts from the 
crown. Those who voluntarily ceded their lands were 
conducted to the white tent and feasted: those who re- 



170 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

fused were instcantly beheaded in the red tent. When a 
numbei' of those nobles had thus been put to death, the 
rest, perceiving what was going forward, obeyed (a.d. 
1389). There must have been extraordinary provoca- 
tions on his part, or a people so patient of despotism as 
the Bohemians would never have risen against him. That, 
after the wanton murder of two citizens and two nobles, 
the inhabitants of Prague arose, seized, and consigned 
him to one of the public dungeons of the city, where, 
during four months, they kept him on bread and water, 
. without allowing him any change of dress, or any indul- 
gence not granted to other malefactors is, perhaps, the 
most extraordinary fact in all history. It is certain, 
however, that they would not have proceeded to such an 
extremity had they not been snre of the approbation of 
his brother Sigismund, who had succeeded to the throne 
of Hungary. 

Sigismimd, having married the eldest daughter of Louis 
the Great, King of Hungary, succeeded by the death of 
his father-in-law to the thi-one of that kingdom. As the 
dissension between the free states and the confederate 
nobles still continued with unabated violence, Wenceslaus, 
with a view of defining more accurately the limits of each 
jurisdiction, adopted the scheme of dividing the empire 
into four circles. The first embraced Upper and Lower 
Saxony, the second the district stretching along the Rhine 
from Basle to Holland, the third Austria, Swabia, and 
Bavaria, the fourth Thuringia and Franconia. By this 
separation, which was afterwards completed by Maxi- 
milian, Wenceslaus hoped to destroy the union between 
the cities which he divided into different circles. The 
cities at first refused all allegiance to the imperial edict, 
and when they at last acceded to it by the Convention of 
Heidelberg, it was on the express stipulation that they 
should maintain their former leagiij inviolable. 

Patriotism of Winkelried at Sempach. — In the midst 
of these transactions, the Cantons of Switzerland had 
vindicated their freedom in another field of blood and 
gloiy. Leopold, Duke of Austria, and 600 nobles 



1273-1520.1 WEXCESLAU3 DEPOSED, 171 

perished in the battle of Scuipach. It was on that 
occasion that Winkehied enobled the annals of his 
country by an action which may be phiced by the side of 
those which have rendered the heroes of Greece and 
Rome immortal. Finding that the serried phalanx of 
Austrian lances presented an impenetrable barrier to the 
Swiss, he commended his soul to God, and his children to 
his coiintry, and then grasping as many lances as he could 
seize in his arms, he buried them in his bosom, opening 
to his countrymen the path of victory, and leaving to 
his native land the possession of her independence. 

The animosity between the princes and the free towns 
of Germany became every day more violent; the latter 
after the most terrible reverses had been obliged to sue 
for peace. 

Wenceslaus deposed (1400). — The Emperor, at a Diet 
held at Nuremberg, endeavoured to mediate between the 
contending factions, and succeeded in restoring some 
appearance of tranquillity. The severity with which 
Wenceslaiis had repressed the pillage and disorders of 
the Bohemian nobles had excited their discontent; and 
as he was prone to excess in low debauchery, and was-, 
often guilty of unseemely and extravagant actions when 
heated by wine, there were not wanting plausible grounds 
on which to justify their disaffection. Under such cir- 
cumstances we cannot feel surprise that the Germanic 
nation should wish his deposition and effect it. The 
result was hastened by the hostility of Boniface IX., 
whom, no less than his rival Benedict XIII., Wenceslaus 
had offended by suggesting that a new election might be 
made and an end put to the schism which distracted the 
Chitrch.* He was declared to have forfeited the imperial 
throne, and his subjects were released from their oaths of 
allegiance. 

lu the choice of a successor, two of the electors, 

* The marriage of Anna, Wenceslaus' sister, with Eichard II., 
King of England, rendered the Bohemians acquainted with the 
writings of Wickliffe, who, since 1360, had boldly ventured to 
attack the abuses of the Church of England. 



172 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

Wenceslaus himself as king of Boliemia, and his brother 
Sigismuncl as margrave of Brandenburg, could not pos- 
sibly concur; since the one would never sanction his own 
degradation, nor was the other willing to see the exclu- 
sion of his house. A third, the Duke of Saxony, refused 
to take any part in these pi'oceedings; not from respect 
to "Wenceslaus, but because he perceived that the choice 
of the other electors was already determined in favoiir of 
a candidate obnoxious to him. And to secure Ms neu- 
trality, if not concurrence, he was taken prisoner by an 
armed band in the interest of the rest, 

Rupert, Count Palatine (1410-1437).— The suffrages 
of the electors fell on one of their nu.mber, Rupert, Coiint 
Palatine, a prince who had neither the talents nor the . 
influence necessary for the support of the dignity. His 
administration, whether in Italy or Germany, was un- 
fortunate. One of the causes alleged for the deposition 
of "Wenceslaus was, that he had virtually dissevered 
Lombardy from the empire by creating the celebrated 
Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti Duke of Milan. To settle 
the affairs of that perpetually distracted country, Rupert 
passed the Alps, and summoned the Duke to resign both 
the title and the domain; bvit, instead of an obedient 
vassal, he found an open enemy, who signally defeated 
him. By favouring the league of the Guelphs, he excited 
the hostility of the Ghibellines, which, in this case, was 
the more bitter, as the Emperors were the natural allies 
of the latter party. In return, he might indeed expect 
to secure the adherence of the Guelphs, with Pope Boni- 
face at their head; but the assistance he received was so 
feeble, and the hostility he excited so formidable, that 
he ingloiiously retraced his steps. His conduct in regard 
to the schism was no less impolitic. Instead of abetting 
the council of Pisa, which dej^osed both popes — the only 
measure that could give peace to the Church — he zealously 
espoused the interests of Gregory XII., and thereby, 
gave offence not only to the council, but to such of his 
subjects as approved the decision of the council. Nor 
in Germany itself was his conduct more approved. 



1273-1520.] SIGISMUND, KING OF HUNGARY. 173 

Attempting to restore the exercise of liis undoubted 
prerogative, he was opposed by a league of princes, who 
assumed, as a pretext, the necessity of watching over 
the rights of the order against the encroachments of the 
crown. The Emperor, in fact, reigned merely by suf- 
ferance: he had been elected by seven princes; by a 
majority of the seven he might have been deposed. 
That doom Rupert very narrowly escaped. His unex- 
pected death preserved Germany from another spectacle 
of successful rebellion. 

Sigismund, King of Hungary (UlO-1437). — The death 
of Rupert seemed to favour the partizans of Wenceslaus ; 
but the partizans of his house preferred the choice of 
his brother Sigismund, King of Hungary. At Frankfort, 
Sigismund was illegally elected by two only of the seven ; 
while five, who assembled later, gave their suffrages in 
favour of the Margrave of Moravia, cousin-german of 
"Wenceslaus and Sigismund. Thus Germany had three 
kings of the Romans, two of whom were resolved to 
defend their rights Avith the sword. But the horrors of 
civil war were averted by the death of the Margrave, 
whose partisans, combining with those of Sigismund, 
proceeded to a new election; and Sigismund was unani- 
mously recognised King of the Romans, Wenceslaus him- 
self renouncing his own rights in favour of his brother. 

Sigismund had given at his election an example of his 
arrogant character. ''There is no prince in the empire," 
said he, "with whose merits I am so fully acquainted as 
with my own. I am surpassed by none — either in power 
or in the prudence with which I have ruled, whether in 
prosperity or adversity. Therefore do I, as Elector of 
Brandenburg, give my vote to Sigismund, King of Hun- 
gary, and will that he be elected King of Germany." 
Sigismund's character was a combination of the charac- 
teristics of his immediate predecessors. Like Charles 
TV., he was crafty and politic, but resembled Wenceslaus 
in his love of sensual gratifications. Handsome, eloquent, 
and lively, he had no steadiness of person, seeming to act 
Ott the impulse of the moment, and with a view to present 



174 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

expediency, rather than on any settled jVlan. The first 
object of his attention was the schism in the Church, 
there being a Pope in Italy, another in France, and a 
third in Spain, and each of them launched anathemas 
against his adversaries and the conntiies subjected to 
him. Sigismund, in furtherance of his favourite design, 
acted at first with sound policy and discretion; he sum- 
moned a General Council to meet at Constance, and in 
order to give its members the character of representatives 
of all Europe, he proclaimed that not merely the clergy, 
but distinguished laymen from different countries should 
assist at its deliberations; the Emperor himself waiving the 
right of supremacy which the Romano-Germanic empire 
had hitherto assumed over other kingdoms, although its 
pretensions were little more than a name. But all these 
fair plans were ruined by his ov/n Avant of self-control. 
During the sitting of the Council, Sigismund gave him- 
self up entirely to low debaiichery; and the only effect 
of his condescension was to make himself the laughing- 
stock of the Church, and give foreign nations encourage- 
ment to encroach still farther on the privileges of the 
empire. 

The Council of Constance (1st Nov. 1414). — The place 
fixed upon for this important assembly of the spiritual 
and temporal powers of Catholic Europe, in compliance 
with the wishes of the Emperor, but not in accordance 
with the interests of the Pope, John XXIII., was Con- 
stance in Switzerland; and the day appointed for the 
meeting was the 1st of November, 1414. The assem- 
blage of ecclesiastics, and also of laymen, on this occasion, 
was immense. The Council was divided into four national 
sections, of Italy, France, Germany, and England, and 
the votes were taken according to this division, instead 
of being registered according to the ojiinions of individual 
members of the body. Both the Emperor and John were 
present. The professed objects of this famous Council 
were, the extinction of the schism, and the reformation 
of the Church, or the correction of those manifold abuses 
Avhich existed in the management of ecclesiastical rev- 



1273-1520.] COUNCIL OP CONSTANCE. 175 

enues. Ilere it was deteniiined, after some debate, that 
a Geneml Couucil could compel the Poj^e to abdicate, 
and the method of cession was moreover declared to be 
the only means of securing the peace of the Church. 
Accordingly, on the 2nd of March 1415, John publicly 
pronounced his abdication, on condition of a similar pro- 
ceeding on the part of Benedict and Gi'egor}^ Suspi- 
cions, however, having been manifested by the Council 
with regard to the sincerity of the Pontiif in these trans- 
actions, the latter planned his escape from Constance, 
and fled first to Schaffhausen, afterwards to Brissac, and 
at length to Fribourg, where he expected to receive the 
protection of the Duke of Austria, but was treacherously 
delivered into the power of the Emperor and the Council. 
A series of enormous crimes being now laid to his charge, 
John was solemnly deposed from the Pontificate (May 
29, 1415), and condemned to rigorous imprisonment, 
which he suffered, first at Heidelberg and afterwards at 
Manheim, for the period of three years. In the course 
of the same year Gregory sent to the Council a voluntary 
and solemn resignation of his dignity. Benedict, how- 
ever, remained inflexible, declaring that he was the true, 
and now the only Pope. Sigismund went in person to 
Perpignan with a view to obtain his resignation; but 
Benedict obstinately resisted all solicitations, and ulti- 
mately withdrew, for the security of his person, to the 
small fortress of Paniscola. The Council, fully convinced 
of his contumacy, proceeded to the sentence of deposition ; 
and although Benedict contitiued to anathematise his 
adversaries daily in his obscure place of refuge, he had 
ceased to be a means of dividing the obedience of the 
Church. The claims of the late competitors having been 
thus entirely destroyed, the Cardinals proceeded to the 
election of a new Pope, and agreed in the choice of Otto 
de Colomia, a Roman, who ascended the Papal Chair 
under the name of Martin V. And thus the jDrimary 
object of the Council, the healing of the Great Schism, 
which had long been productive of such numerous dis- 
orders, was successfully accomplished. Gregory XII. died 



176 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

soon after his cession. John XXIII., restored to liberty 
about tliree years after bis deposition, was solicited by some 
of bis friends to resume the Papal dignity, but instead of 
complying with their advice, he voluntarily threw himself 
at the feet of Martin, who received his submission. And 
thus the Great Western Schism was completely at an end. 

John Huss and Jerome of Prague (1416). — The 
spiritual business of the Council of Constance was no 
less important than its temporal. John Huss, a disciple 
of Wickliff, and professor in the new university of Prague, 
founded by Charles IV., was tried for heresy, in opposing 
the hierarchy, and satirising the immoralities of the popes 
and bishops. He did not deny the charge; and refusing 
to confess his errors, was burnt alive, though he had a 
safe conduct from the Emperor to appear at the Council. 
But the principle on which the Council acted was not 
concealed : it was indeed openly avowed, that, in certain 
cases, faith was not to be kept with heretics. A similar 
fate was the portion of his friend and disciple, Jerome of 
Prague, who displayed at his execution the eloquence of 
an apostle, and the constancy of a martyr. Sigismund 
felt the consequences of these horrible proceedings; for 
the Bohemians, jtistly exaspei-ated at the ti'eacherous 
execution of their cou.ntrymen, opposed his succession to 
their crown, vacant by the death of his deceased brother 
Wenceslaus, and it cost him a war of sixteen years to 
attain it. 

Whatever was the imperial power at this time, it 
derived but small consequence from its actual revenues. 
The wealth of the Germanic states was exclusively pos- 
sessed by their separate sovereigns, and the Emperor had 
little more than what he drew from Bohemia and Hun- 
gary. The sovereignty of Italy was an empty title. The 
interest of the Emperor in that country furnished only a 
source of faction to its princes, and embroiled the states 
in perpetual quarrels. 

War of the Hussites — Death of Wenceslaus (1418). — 
The execution of Huss, with all its circumstances of 
cruelty and falsehood, had been regarded by the BohQ- 



1273-1520.] ACCESSION OF SIGISMUND, 177 

niians as a national insult, which called aloud for signal 
and adequate retribution. "When the ashes of the martyr 
were thrown into the Rhine, the rulers of the Church 
believed that his name had perished with his body. But 
the people thought far otherwise. James Hussinitz, a 
nobleman residing in the village where Huss was born, 
determined to avenge his death, and to maintain his doc- 
trines. Wenceslaus, finding himself wholly unable to 
resist the storm of popular indignation, withdrew from 
Prague, which soon fell entirely into the hands of the 
malcontents. Under the command of the leaders of the 
new doctrines, they proceeded to yet more violent extre- 
mities. To revenge some slight offence which had been 
offered to them in one of their religioiis processions, they 
burst into the council chamber at Prague, and seizing 
thirteen of the principal magistrates, flung them from the 
windows upon the pikes of their associates. The intelli- 
gence of this outrage roused Wenceslaus to so violent a 
paroxysm of fury, that it occasioned an apopletic fit which 
put an end to his existence. 

Sigismund succeeds to the Crown of Bohemia (1419). 
— The accession of Sigismund, who, notwithstanding a 
letter addressed to the Bohemians in vindication of his 
conduct, was universally considered as the cause of Huss's 
execution, and a promulgation of a decree of the Council 
of Constance containing a most imqualified denunciation 
of their sect, wroiight the passions of the Hussites to a 
yet higher state of exasperation. They refused to recog- 
nise Sigismund as King, whereupon the Hussite civil war 
broke out. They were divided into two parties, the more 
moderate Calixtines and the more rigid Taborites. Ziska, 
the leader of the latter party, a man of extraordinary 
powers, assembled them on Mount Tabor, captured Prague, 
pillaged and burnt the monasteries, and in several engage- 
ments defeated Sigismund. After the death of Ziska 
(1424), his place was filled by a monk named Procopius, 
who defeated the mercenaries sent under the name of 
Crusaders by the Emperor and the Papal legates in the 
battles of Mies (1427) and Tachau (1431), and whosft 



178 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

troops ravaged Austria, Franconia, Saxony, Catholic 
Bohemia, Lusatia, and Silesia. A council held at Basle 
in 1433 made concessions which were accepted by the 
Calixtines. The Taborites, rejecting the compromise, 
were vanquished in the battle of Prague (1434), and by 
the treaty of Iglau (1436), the compromise of Basle was 
accepted by Bohemia, and Sigismund recognised as King. 




The Emperor having committed to the Council of Basle 
the task of carrying on negotiations, had withdrawn to 
Rome on pretext of being crowned by the new Pope, 
Eugenius lY. The council led by the spiritual and tem- 
poral lords, who were fully aware of the imi)ortance of 
the cause at stake, shared the Emperor's opinion, and 
were, consequently, far more inclined to make concession 
than was the Pope, who refused to yield to any terms, 
preferring to throw the onus of the peace on others. The 
council therefore acted without reference to the Pontiff, 



1273-1520.] COUNCIL OP CONSTANCE. 170 

w'lio in the meantime amused himself with solemnising a 
farcical coronation of the Emperor at Rome. Sigismund 
i-emained, during the sitting of the Council, in Italy, 
engaged in love affairs, although already sixty -three years 
of age. After openly procrastinating the ceremony, the 
Pope at length gave fall vent to his displeasure (1433), by 
causing the crown to be placed awry on Sigismund's head 
by another ecclesiastic, and then pushing it straight with 
his foot as the Emperor knelt before him. 

Close of the Council of Constance (11:37). — After long 
and tedious conferences the Council conceded to the 
Bohemian laity the use of the cup in the communion, 
and Sigismund on his side agreed that the Hussite priests 
should be tolerated, even at court; that no more monas- 
teries should be built; that the university of Pi-ague 
•should be reinstated in all its former privileges; and a 
general amnesty granted for all past disturbances. Thtis 
peace was concluded in 1437. Bohemia, however, remained 
still in a feverish state until about a century after, when 
the reform of Luther revived old feelings and antipathies, 
of which the Thirty Years' "War that, another century 
later, desolated all Germany, may be said to have been the 
■•;9raote consequence. There are a few Hussites now in 
Bohemia; the rest have merged into Calvinists, Lutherans, 
Moravians, and other sects. 

The German nobility, freed from their fanatical oppo- 
nents, turned their attention homewards, and resolved to 
curb the violence of the Emperor, and to secure the main- 
tenance of peace by a system of moderation. Sigismund 
was now old, and his son-in-law, Albert of Hapsburg, pur- 
sued an uncompromising policy. They therefore consj)ired 
with Rokizana, Archbishop of Prague, and the Empress 
Barbara, to proclaim Wladislaw of Poland successor to 
the throne. Sigismund, on learning their intentions, per- 
ceived the false step he had taken, again made coiicessions, 
and, suddenly entering Moravia, seized the person of the 
faithless Empress, the Messalina of her age. He shortly 
afterwards expired at Znaim, sitting in state " as lord of 
the world," as he vain-gloriously boasted (1437), in, the 



180 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

twenty-eightli year of liis reign, and the seventieth of 
his life. 

Albert 11. of Austria— Frederick III. (1438-1493).— 
Albert of Austria, son-in-law of the late Emperor, was, 
after a short interval, elevated by the unanimous suffrages 
of the electors to the vacant throne of the empire; 
Frederick of Brandenburg, his only opponent was easily 
persuaded to resign his pretensions in favour of so illus- 
trious a comj^etitor. Fifth in descent, and fourth in 
■succession from that Albert who fell a victim to domestic 
treachery in the early pai't of the fourteenth century, the 
newly-created head of the Germanic Confederation com- 
bined every quality best calculated to win the affection 
and command the obedience of the turbulent vassals with 
whose government he had been entrusted. So little, 
however, did he aspire to the magnificent title which it 
Avas now proposed to confer upon him, and so reluctant 
was he to entangle himself in the maze of German politics, 
that on assuming the government of Hungary, he had 
pledge,d himself, in the event of his election, to reject the 
nominal supremacy of the empire, and to devote his care 
entirely to the administration of those vast districts which 
had already fallen under his control. 

Frederick of the Empty Pocket, and the Revolt of 
the Swiss. — From the period of the battle of Muhldorf 
in 1322, when Frederick the Fair of Austria was over- 
thrown, until the election of Albert II., the House of 
Hapsburg remained excluded from the imperial throne, 
and were chiefly occupied with the affairs of their Austrian 
dominions. At the beginning of the fifteenth century 
we find these possessions, which were now considerably 
enlarged, shared by three members of the family, of whom 
one, called from his poverty, Frederick of the Empty 
Pocket, held the Tyrol and the ancient territories of the 
house in Switzerland and in Suabia. Fi-ederick having, 
in 1415, assisted the escajDe of John XXIII. from Con- 
stance, was excommunicated by the Council then sitting 
in that town, and was also placed under the imperial ban 
by the Emperor Sigismund. Frederick's possessions were 



1273-1520.] DIVISIONS IN THE EMPIRE. 181 

now at the mercy of those who could seize them, and in 
a few days 400 towns declared against him. In this 
general revolt, the Swiss, with the exception of the miners 
of Uri, were especially active : they seized the territoi'ies 
so liberally bestowed upon them by the Council; and it was 
now that Hapsburg, the cradle and hereditary castle of the 
family, was laid in ruins, as it has continued ever since. 

Albert II. would doubtless have done much for the 
welfare of Germany, had not death unhappily surprised 
him after a brief reign of scarcely two years, on his return 
from an expedition against the Turks in Hungary. From 
his time, the imperial crown was transmitted in the 
House of Austria almost as if it had been an hereditary 
possession ; and we shall see the descendants of Pvodolf 
attaining to a poAver and pre-eminence which threatened 
to overshadow the liberties of Europe. 

Frederick III. (1440-149.3). — After the death of 
Albert, the Germans elected for their Emperor Frederick 
III. , the elder son of Ernest, surnamed the Iron, brother 
to Frederick with the Empty Pocket, and who possessed 
Styria, Caiinthia, Istria, and other provinces. Frederick 
III. was a well-intentioned prince, although too j)acific 
and too indolent to reign over the empire at a time when 
the affaii's both of church and state required a vigorous 
and steady hand. Little was known of him, save that 
he had once made a pilgTimage to the Holy SeiDulchre, 
and wandered among the mountains of Palestine. Being, 
however, the eldest representative of the mighty House of 
Hapsburg, it was deemed expedient to elect him Emperor. 
A short time was sufficient to show how injudicious the 
choice had been. Frederick III. ruled Germany, if such 
an expression can be ajjplied to his weak and miserable 
reign, till 1493; and his long sway added not a single 
remarkable or glorious action to the annals of Germany, 
Frederick was crowned King of the Romans at Aix-la- 
Chapelle in 1442. 

Divisions in the Empire. — In 1446, the people of 
Zurich renounced the impei-ial alliance, and joined the 
confederacy of three forest cantons, which had made itself 



182 KlStORf OF GEllirAN"5f. [pERIOD V. 

res]3ectecl by all its neighbours. In Hungary, the young 
Laclislaus, son of the late Emperor, bad been crowned by 
tbe German party; but a threatened invasion of the 
Tui'ks, rendering it necessary to have a man of action at 
the head of the government, the people chose Ladislaus 
of Poland, who Avas conquered and slain by the Turks at 
Yarna, soon after his election. In Bohemia, the German 
Ladislaus was universally recognised as King, but the 
powers of government were exercised by the heads of two 
factions, Meinhard and Ptaczek. After the death of the 
latter, George of Podiebrad, a brave warrior, became 
leader of the more popular party, surpi-ised Prague, 
threw his rival into prison, and was made sole regent. 
In Austiia, one Sitzinger, a Bavarian, exercised unlimited 
influence over the states : thus in each of the hereditary 
dominions of the Emperor and his young ward, Ladis- 
laus, the people were ruled with an absolute authoiity 
by a power almost independent of the indolent Frederick 
and his cousin. 

The last Coronation performed at Rome. — In 1451, 
Frederick repaii-ed to Pome t» receive the imperial crowL 
from the hands of the Pope. Nicholas V., who then filled 
the Papal chaii', received him with great magnificence; 
but it was observed that the Emperor, till after his 
coronation, yielded precedence to the Cardinals. Accord- 
ing to the strict order of this ceremony, it was necessary 
that Fi-ederick should first receive the iron crown of 
Lombardy, which it was the privilege of the Archbishop 
of Milan to bestow; but Frederick having, for some 
reason, declined to enter that city, the Pope, with his 
own hands, crowned him King of Lombardy, though 
with a reservation of the rights of the Archbishop. On 
the same day (March 15), Nicholas married Frederick to 
Eleanor, the beautiful daughter of the King of Portugal, 
Avho had met him at Sienna, and three days afterwards 
received the imperial ci'own. This coronation is memor- 
able as the last performed at Pome, and the last but one 
in which the services of the Pope were ever required.* 
* Charles V. was crowned by the Pope at BoIo,':;na. 



1273-1520.] FREDERICK ACKNOWLEDGES PODIEBRAD. 183 

After the ceremony, Frederick set ofi" for Naples witli liis 
consoi't, to visit King Alphonso, nncle of his Empress, 
where the marriage Avas celebrated with great pomp, the 
fountains of the city being made to run with wine, and 
tables Avere spread for the entertainment of 30,000 guests. 

Destruction of the Byzantine Empire by Mahomet 
II. (1453). — At the time of this vain ceremonial, measures 
were concerted for a crusade against the Turks; but 
the si^irit which precipitated Europe upon Asia was no 
more, and the descendants of those who had rescued the 
Holy Sepulchre from the power of the infidels were con- 
tent to remain passive spectators of the entire destruction 
of the Byzantine empire. 

The inactivity and negligence of Frederick, who kneAV 
neither how to yield nor how to withstand, involved him 
daily in fresh difficulties, and exposed him to innumerable 
mortifications. In consequence of the calamities which 
his apathy had occasioned, and of the insults for which 
it behoved him to seek redress, the electors had already 
begun to deliberate on the expediency of deposing him. 
To complete his embarrassment, Ladislaus, the son of 
Albert, died, leaving his hereditary dominions exposed to 
the dreadful evils arising from intestine strife and civil 
disorganization. 

Some historians have rejn'esentcd this prince as an 
accomplished and virtuous ruler, but the execution of 
Corvinus, brother of the patriotic warrior, John Han- 
niades, leaves a .blot on his character which years of 
beneficent government could hardly wipe away. Matthias 
Corvinns, the son of Hunniades, was noAV raised by a 
grateful people to the throne which his father had pre- 
served; and although the defection of a few nobles 
enabled Frederick to gain possession of the Hungarian 
crown and jewels, the former continued till his death to 
enjoy the substantial privileges, and to exercise the real 
functions of a legitimate sovereign. 

Frederick acknowledges Podiebrad, King of Bohemia 
(1459). — Bohemia, inflamed by a similar spirit of dis- 
alfection, disregarding the claim of Frederick and his 



164 tflSTOtlY OF GERMANY. [pEtilOD V. 

descendants, elected their brave leader, George of Podie- 
brad for its ruler, whom the Emperor was compelled to 
acknowledge. A third war with his brother Albert, 
who, after wresting fi-om his feeble grasp a part of 
Austria, aspired to the conquest of the whole, was 
equally disastrous to his reputation. He was besieged 
in the fortress of Vienna; and, but for the politic advice 
of Podiebrad, would have been captured, and made to 
sign worse terms than the cession of his hereditary states. 
By Podiebrad's influence a reconciliation was effected; 
Albert Avas allowed to retain, during eight years, the 
government of Lower Austria, xinder the condition of an 
annual tribute of 4000 ducats. But the humiliations 
which he was doomed to support from his brother ended 
in 1463, by the death of Albei't, who, had his life been 
protracted, would entirely have conquered the whole of 
the Austrian states. 

Imhecility of Frederick III. — If these contentions 
were thus hushed for a moment, the imbecility of the 
Emperor was apparent to every one. New wars broke 
ovit imder his very eyes; wars which he had neither the 
ability nor the inclination to repress. That there should 
be a loud outcry against him, and that the project of 
dethroning him to make way for Podiebrad should be 
resumed, need not surprise us. When the EmjDress was 
informed of certain of his concessions, she exclaimed, 
turning to her son Maximilian, "If, my son, I could 
trace in you any symptoms of your father's pusillanimity, 
I should Iwnent the fortune that destines you a throne." 
Prederick, however, had some address; and he had the 
wisdom to maintain a friendly intercourse with every 
succeeding Pope. Now he stirred up a war between 
Podiebrad and Matthias of Hungary ; now he prevailed 
on the Pope to preach a crusade against the Bohemian 
King, as the acknowledged head of the Hussites. But 
Germany would not move even to resist the progress of 
the Turks under Mahomet II., much less to dethrone an 
elector who had won the respect of the empire. If 
Frederick himself wished the destruction of his vassals, 



1273-1520.] BETROTHAL OP MAXIMILIAN. 185 

lie bad certainly no great antipathy to the infidels. They 
furnished employment to one whom he hated, the King 
of Hungary; and though detached bodies of these bar- 
barians penetrated twelve times into his hereditary 
dominions, though they massacred thousands, and led 
thousands ca})tive from Carinthia and Styria, he did not 
oppose them in the field. In the language of a contem- 
porary chronicler, " He was moi'e anxious to shield his 
cabbages from the frost, than his people from the bar- 
barians." That he should be regarded with contempt 
was the righteous meed he deserved. 

Death of Podiebrad, King of Bohemia (1471).— The 
death of Podiebrad freed Frederick from one dangerous 
rival; but it did not open his Avay to the Bohemian 
throne. In confox'mity with the wishes of the deceased 
monarch, the States elected Ladislaus, son of Casimii', 
King of Poland ; and though Predei-ick stormed, he was 
compelled to recognise the new potentate. 

Betrothal of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy. — • 
But if Frederick was thus unfortunate in his under- 
takings, one of his efforts for the aggrandisement of his 
house was more successful, though, in its consequences, 
it proved most disastrous to his posterity, to France, and 
to Europe. During the life of Charles the Rash, Duke 
of Burgundy, Frederick negotiated a marriage between 
his son Maximilian and Mary, daughter and heiress of 
that prince. With his accustomed fatality, indeed, he 
turned one whom he had chosen for the father-in-law of 
his son into an implacable enemy, and had brought the 
troops of Burgundy into the Rhenish provinces; but, 
after the death of Charles, he renewed the negotiations 
with the princess herself. Policy, the intei-est of the 
Netherlands, and even of Europe, required that she 
should be married to the Dauphin of France, for whom 
her hand was sought by the crafty Louis XI.; but the 
Dauphin was yet a child, and Mary was a woman, already 
favourably disposed towards Maximilian. Contrary, 
therefore, to the advice of her ministers, she received, 
with evident pleasure, the ambassadors of the Emperor; 



186 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [pERIOB Y. 

slie was even married by proxy; and, on this occasion, 
the nobleman who represented Maximilian lay down by 
her side, but armed at all points, with a swoixl between 
him and the princess, and in presence of numerous 
witnesses. The issue of this marriage was Philip, who 
became the husband of Juanna, the heiress of Castile, and 
father of the Emperor Charles V. Hence the rivalry 
between France and Spain, between France and the 
Empire, which raged with fuiy down to the 18th century. 
Nor was this the only evil; for the Flemish were always 
a- disaffected people — always fond of revolution; and to 
maintain them in obedience required more trouble, and 
occasioned more expense than the provinces were actually 
worth. 

Death of Frederick III. (1493).— The termination of 
Frederick's protracted and inglorious reign of fifty-three 
years was now approaching; he expired in 1493, and 
may be compared in many respects to our English Heniy 
III., to whom his character certainly bears a strong 
resemblance. Pusillanimous, feeble, and vacillating, his 
infirmity of ]:)urpose and superstitious regard for the 
authority of the Pope, in an age when the respect for 
papal authority was every day declining, exposed him to 
the charge of weakness and inconsistency; an exile from 
his hereditary dominions, unable to control his turbulent 
vassals, apparently dependent for his daily inaintenance 
on the town of the empire in which he fixed his residence, 
imder his rule the imperial authority seems to have ebbed 
to the very lowest point of degradation and contempt. 
But, on the other hand, he was faithful to his word, 
skilful in his negotiations, well acquainted with human 
character, temperate in his habits, and unsullied in his 
morals; and gTeat as was his indolence, his enemies 
cannot deny that some good was effected during his reign. 
By securing the crown in his own family, and by the 
vast sums of money which he contrived to accumulate, 
he placed the means of aggrandisement in the hands of 
his posterity; and although the improvidence of Maxi- 
milian rendered them for some time unavailing, j^et were 



1273-1520.] HOSTILITY OP FRANCE. 187 

they grasped witli firmness, and wielded witli terrific 
ener2;y by his successors. 

Maximilian I. (1493-1519).— On the death of his 
father, Maximilian had been seven years King of the 
Romans; and his accession to the impei'ial crown en- 
countered no opposition. The time was departed when 
a, king, elected during the life-time of a reigning emperor, 
could be set aside by a factious elector. In reality, a 
much greater change was effected in the disposition of 
the German mind. All men felt that the order of succes- 
sion should be placed on a less precarious footing; that, 
though the constitution still demanded the exercise of 
the elective right, there must be an approximation to 
hereditary principles in the sovereignty; that, if any 
family were thus to be favoured, none could produce so 
good a claim as the House of Austria. Omitting all 
considerations of gratitude; of the splendour which 
Bodolph, its restorer, had conferred on the empire; of 
the services performed by that house in behalf of the 
common body, — policy shov/ed that the croAvn should 
remain where it was, because it had been already worn 
by two members of that family, and the hereditary 
principle, so much desired by all patriots, was in action; 
but chiefly because no other house was so able or so likely 
to preserve the honour, the independence, we might add, 
the existence of the empire. No other had such extent 
of territory; no other was so powerful: not Austria only, 
and the extensive provinces to the south, were dependent 
on it, but it had claims on Bohemia and Hungary. 

Hostility of France to the Empire — Marriage of 
Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy. — On the death of 
Frederick, Grcrmany felt its situation changed. France, 
instead of comprising, as formerly, a number of petty 
states, scarcely dependent on their feudal head, was now 
one compact monarchy. She had expelled the English 
from all but the insignificant territory in the vicinity of 
Calais; and she had successfully incoi'poratad Provence, 
Dauphiny, Burgundy, and Brittany with the other pro- 
vinces. Though France and the empire were always 



188 HISTORY OF GERMANY. fPERIOD V. 

hostile by circumstances ; tliougli each had claims to the 
fine regions extending from the Moselle to the Meditei'- 
ranean, the one through weakness, the other through 
indifference, had abstained from war. The marriage of 
Maximilian with the heiress of Biu^gundy brought the 
two into direct collision. Louis XI., who had seized the 
other possessions of Charles the Bold, Mary's father, 
aspii-ed to the Netherlands also. That bea,utiful heiress, 
anxious alike to escape the merciless grasp of that royal 
monster and the rule of the wild democracy of Ghent, at 
first endeavoui-ed to conciliate the Dutch by the promvil- 
gation of a great charter, but fruitlessly. In the hope 
of gaining a greater accession of power by a foreign 
marriage, she skilfully worked upon the dread with 
which the French were viewed by her subjects, to 
influence them in favour of Maximilian, the handsomest 
youth of his day, whom she is said to have seen at 
an earlier period at Treves, or, as some say, of whose 
picture she had become enamoured. Mary, as we have 
already said, was married by proxy to the Archduke 
INIaximilian, in the lifetime of Frederick III. Maxi- 
milian who inherited the physical strength of his grand- 
mother, Cimburga of Poland, and the mental qualities of 
his Portuguese mother, surjiassed all other knights in 
chivalric feats, was modest, gentle, and amiable. Mary 
confessed to the assembled states of the Netherlands, that 
she had already interchanged letters and rings with 
him, and the marriage was resolved upon. Maximilian 
hastened to Ghent, and, mounted on a brown steed, 
clothed in silvei'-gilt armour-, his long fair locks crowned 
Avith a bi-idegroom's wreath, resplendent with pearls and 
precious stones, rode into the city, where he was met by 
Mary. The youthful pair, on beholding one another, 
knelt in the public street and sank into each other-'s arms. 
" Welcome art thou to me, thou noble German," said the 
young duchess, " whom I have so long desired, and now 
behold with delight." 

Amongst those princely mai-riages which history sig- 
nalises on account of the greatness of their consequences, 



1273-1520.] MARRIAGE OP ANNE OF BRITTANY, 189 

figures in the first rank that of Maximilian of Austria and 
ivlary of Burgundy. Their son, Philip tJte Fair, married 
the heiress of Castile and Aragon; thus the Spanish, 
Burgundian, and Austrian possessions were found united 
in one single hand; whence arose the monstrous power 
of Charles Y., the struggle of Fium 
Europe against tlie House of Austria. 

Death of Mary of Burgundy. — This event greatly 
enraged the French monarch, avIio at length succeeded 
in persuading the Swiss to enter into alliance with him, 
and to cede to him the county of Burgundy; but Maxi- 
milian speedily deprived him of the territory he had 
seized in the Netherlands. Mary did not long survive 
her marriage with ]\Iaximilian. Besides her firstborn, 
Philip, Mary had given birth to a daughter, Margaret, 
and was again pregnant, when she was, whilst hunt- 
ing, thrown from her horse, and dangei'ously hurt by the 
stump of a tree, against which she was squeezed by her 
fallen horse. From a false feeling of delicacy, she con- 
cealed her state until surgical aid was unavailing, and 
expired in the bloom of life (1482). The death of the 
beauteous duchess was a signal for general revolt, and 
Maximilian, perceiving his inability to make head both 
against France and his rebellious subjects, concluded the 
peace of Arras with the former, and promised his daughter, 
Margaret, to the Dauphin, with Artois, Boulogne, and 
the county of Burgundy in dowry (1482). Mai-garet 
was sent to Paris. Burgundy and the Arelat were united 
to Fi-ance. 

Anne of Brittany Married by proxy to Maximilian. 
— Maximilian next endeavoured to obtain the hand of 
Anne of Brittany, on whom, by the death of her father, 
the government of that isolated and xincivilised district 
had recently devolved. His design was in part realised; 
her marriage with Maximilian was celebrated by proxy, 
and the duchess assumed the title of Queen of the Romans ; 
but this magnificent appellation was all she gained by her 
marriage. Charles YIII. of France, to whom the daughter 
of Maximilian had been betrothed since the Peace of 



190 HISTOKY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

Arras, having iii vain attempted to conquer Biittany 
by force, now began to change his scheme with regard 
to the subjection of that province. He determined to 
reannex this important fief to the crown by marriage, 
and, by the vioh^tion of a double contract, to prevent the 
consummation of a union which appeared destructive to 
the grandeur and security of his dominions. Maximilian, 
destitute of trooj^s and money, and embarrassed by the 
continual revolt of the Flemings, could send no succour 
to his distressed consort, even had he been able to anti- 
cipate the dissolution of engagements apparently so advan- 
tageous, and contracted with so much solemnit3^ Charles, 
however, advanced with a })owerful army and invested 
Eennes, at that time the residence of the duchess, who, 
assailed on all sides, and desei'ted by her adherents, was 
at last compelled to oiien the gates of the city, and to 
accept the French King as her husband. 

Consequences of the Rupture of the Marriage. — 
This imexpected success roused Maximilian to a par- 
oxysm of indignation, and his anger was embittered by 
the reflection that his own supine apathy, in neglecting 
to render the tie indissoluble by the consummation of his 
marriage, had exposed him to this sensible mortification. 
Not only had he lost a considerable territory, which he 
looked upon as his own, and an amiable princess, whom 
he considered as his wife, but those injuries were yet 
further enhanced by the repudiation of his daughter, 
Margaret, who, after she had enjoyed for some time the 
title of Queen of France, was sent back to him in the 
face of Europe by her affianced husband. Incensed by 
these gross outrages, he vented his rage in the most 
violent expressions, and he menaced Charles with the 
vengeance which the united arms of Austria, England, 
and Aragon were ready to inflict; but his threats were 
not supported by any military power or financial resources. 
He petitioned, indeed, the Diet for sujiport; but though 
the qualities for which his name is idolised to this hour 
in Germany, rendered him the darling of his country, he 
found it impossible to obtain any solid assistance from the 



J273-1520.] GERMANY; FRANCE, AND ITALY. 191 

tardy and irresolute proceedings of that bod}^ He there- 
fore accepted the mediation of the Swiss, and a peace was 
concluded at Senlis, by Avhich the French monarch con- 
sented to make restitution of Artois, Franche Compte, 
and Charolois, which had been ceded to France as the 
dowry of his daugliter. 

Imprisonment of Maximilian by the Flemings. — The 
jealousy of the Flemings, roused by the invidious prefer- 
ence which Maximilian exhibited on all occasions for his 
German followers, broke out in an insurrection at Bruges, 
where Maximilian was seized and detained in strict con- 
finement until the empire, under the command of Albert 
of Saxony, armed for the defence of its future sovereign. 
So great, however, was the imbecility of Maximilian and 
the independence of the Flemings, that although his 
liberation was ultimately effected, the rebels who had 
seized upon and imprisoned their sovereign were suffered 
to escape with almost entire impunity: forty citizens of 
Bruges, who had most grievously insulted the roj^al 
person, being alone executed. 

On Maximilian's return to the Netherlands in 1493, 
Albert of Saxony led his two children to him at Maes- 
tricht, with these words, " God has granted ine success, 
therefore I bring you these two children and an obedient 
land." Maximilian owed him a heavy debt of gratitude, 
for he had furnished the means for carrying on the war 
in the Netherlands from his private property, the mines 
in the Snow mountains. 

Relations of G-ermany, France, and Italy. — France 
at this time cast her eyes upon Italy, Nepotism, the 
family interest of the popes, who bestowed enormous 
wealth, and even Italian pi-incipalities, on their nephews, 
relatives, and natural children, was the prevalent spirit 
of the court of Rome. The Pope's relations plundered 
the Papal treasury, which he filled with the plunder of 
the whole of Christendom, by raising the Church taxes, 
amplifying the ceremonies, and selling 'absolution. Alex- 
ander VI., who at that period occupied the pontifical 
throne, surpassed all his predecessors in wickedness. He 



192 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

tiled of poison (1503), laden witli crimes. The royal 
House of Aragon again sat on the throne of Naples. In 
Upper Italy, besides the ancient republics of Venice and 
Genoa, and the principalities of Milan and Ferrara, 
Florence had become half a republic, half a principality, 
under the rule of the House of Medici. 

France, ever watchful, was not tardy in finding an 
opportunity for interference. In Milan, the young duke, 
Giovanni Galeazzo Sforza, had been murdered by his 
uncle Luigi, who seized the ducal throne. Ferdinand of 
"Naples, Galeazzo's brother-in-law, declaring against the 
murderer, Luigi claimed the assistance of the French 
King, Charles YIII., who promised him his protection, 
and at the same time asserted his own claim to the 
Neapolitan throne as the descendant of the House of 
Anjou. In 1494, he unexpectedly entered Italy at the 
head of an immense army, partly composed of Swiss 
mercenaries, and took Naples. Milan, alarmed at the 
overwhelming strength of her importunate ally, now 
entered into a league with the Pope, the Emperor, Spain, 
and Naples, for the purpose of driving him out of Italy, 
and Alexander VI. astonished the world by leaguing 
with the arch-foe of Christendom, the Turkish Sultan, 
against the " most Christian " King of Fi-ance. Chai'les 
yielded to the storm, and voluntarily returned to France 
(1495). Maximilian had been unable, fi'om want of 
money, to go in person to Italy, and 3000 men were all 
he had been able to supply. He had, however, secured 
himself by a marriage with Bianca Maria, the sister of 
Galeazzo Sforza, and attempted, on the withdrawal of 
the French, to put forward his pretensions as EmjDeror. 
Pisa imploring his aid against Florence (1496), he under- 
took a campaign at the head of an inconsiderable force, 
in which he was imsuccessful, the Venetians refusing 
their promised aid. His marriage with Bianca, a woman 
of a haughty, cold disposition, unendowed with the mental 
and personal graces of Mary of Burgundy, was far from 
happy. 

Relations of G-ermany and Spain. — A ^tili closet 



1273-1520.] THE AULIC COUNCIL, 193 

o-lliance was formed with. Spain, where the whole power 
had, as in France, centered in the monarch. The h\st 
descendants of the ancient petty kings of tliis country, 
Ferdinand of Aragon, and IsabeUa of Castile, had married, 
and, by their united force, had expelled the Moors (1492), 
a year also famous for the discovery of America, whose 
mines so greatly enriched Spain, by Columbus, the Genoese. 
The marriage of Philip, Maximilian's son (already related), 
with the Infanta Juanna, and that of his daiighter Mar- 
garet, with the Infant Don Juan, Prince of the Asturias* 
(1496), brought this splendid monarchy into the House 
of Hapsburg, the Infant Don Juan expiring shortly after- 
wards, and the whole of Spain falling to Philip in right 
of his Avife. 

Maximilian founds the Aulic Council (1501). — The 
Diet of Worms aimed at establishing a perpetual public 
peace in Germany, by adopting vigorous measures for 
the sujipression of private warfare, and by providing a 
paramount coiii't of justice — the imperial chamber. But 
as the establishment of the imperial chamber was dis- 
agreeable to the Emperor, to rescue from its jurisdiction 
such causes as he considered lay more peculiarly within 
the range of his prerogative, and to encroach by degrees 
on the jurisdiction of this odious tribunal, Maximilian, 
in 1501, laid the foundation of the celebrated Aulic 
Council. But the time consumed in these deliberations 
rendered hoi:)eless any result from the expedition of 
Maximilian into Itcdy. The storm had passed away, and 
the imbecile King of France had returned to the de- 
baucheries of his court in Paris; when at last, with a 
handful of troops not exceeding 4000 men, the Emperor 
made an appearance in Italy, at once unnecessary and 
unacceptable. No danger was apprehended from France, 
and the force which he brought with him was sufficiently 

^ The title of Prince of tlie Asturias was appropriated to tlie 
lieir apparent of Castile, in professed imitation of that of Prince 
of Wales, and was bestowed on the Infant Don Henry, after- 
wards Henry III., on the occasion of his marriage with the 
daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in 1388. 



194 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V, 

large to excite the suspicions of tlie rulers of Milan and 
Venice. With tlie combined object of averting the ap- 
prehended peril, and of rendering his name ridiculous, 
Maximilian was induced, by these two powers, to attempt 
the reduction of the insolent city of Florence. His own 
errors, and the incompetency of his forces, the desertion 
of the Venetian troops, and the succours thrown in by 
the French, showed him the futility of his designs. He 
returned in the autumn. 

Defeat of the Imperial Army by the Swiss. — A de- 
vastating war ensued in Switzerland upon his return. 
The Swiss, courted by the princes of Europe, to whom 
their mercenary infantry were indispensable in the wars 
of the time, refused to accede to the demands of Maxi- 
milian, until relieved from the exactions of the Imperial 
Chamber. Long-suppressed jealousies at last broke out 
into active hostilities. The war was at first carried on 
by the troops of the Swabian League, of which the county 
of Tyrol was a member, but to the advantage of the 
Swiss, who were victorious in numerous and bloody 
actions. On the refusal of the German nobles to serve 
against the peasantry of Switzerland, Maximilian de- 
spatched the Count of Furstenberg with 16,000 troops. 
These were defeated shortly after at Dornach, and a 
treaty was concluded, by which the independence of the 
Swiss was fully established (1499). 

The fruitless result of this expedition, which tarnished 
most injuriously the reputation of Maximilian, and his 
unsuccessful collision with the Swiss, in the intermediate 
years, were followed by a submission on his part to the 
establishment of a council of regency for the administra.- 
tion of the empire during the abseTice of its ordinary 
head, and during the intervals of the Diets. At Worms 
he had opposed this institution, as derogatory to his im- 
perial rights. In the hope of finding this smaller body 
more easily manageable than the more numerous one of 
the Diet, he instructed the members to proceed, accord- 
ing to certain directions of his OAvn, in the negotiations 
for peace with France, But failing to persuade them, 



1273-1520.] JUANNA OF CASTILE. 195 

he was luiable to caiiy tliem on through his son Philip, 
the regent of Spain, and a treaty concluded through this 
channel between him and Louis XII., in the close of 
1501, relieved him from the pressure of hostilities with 
that prince. 

Maximilian ever intended well. He fervently desired 
to mai'ch against the Tuilcs, to reannex Italy to the 
empire, to chastise the insolence of France — in a word, to 
act as became a great German Emperor; b\xt he was a 
prisoner in the midst of the weapons of Germany, a 
beggar in the midst of her wealth; the vassals of the 
empire, sunk in shameless egotism, coldly refused to 
assist their sovereign, and rendered him the laughing- 
stock of Europe. 

The fanciful plans of Maximilian for a crusade against 
the Turks were soon thrown aside for hostilities, which, 
arising in his immediate viciiiity, were productive of 
some honour, and a considerable accession of territory : 
this was the petty war of succession in Bavaria, termi- 
nated by the decision of the Diet of Cologne in 1505. 
Disturbances had also arisen in the Netherlands, where 
the people favoured Charles of Gueldres to the prejudice 
of the Hapsburg. Maximilian's son, Philip the Hand- 
some, at length concluded a truce with his opponent, and 
went into Spain to take possession of Castile, whose 
queen, Isabella, had just expired, in the name of her 
daughter, his wife, Juanna. Ferdinand of Aragon, his 
father-in-law, however, refused to yield the throne of 
Castile during his lifetime, and, in his old age, married a 
young Frenchwoman, in the hope of raising another heir 
to the throne of Aragon. 

Juanna of Castile and Philip the Handsome. — Juanna 
had been imprisoned during Philip's absence, by command 
of her criiel father, in Medina del Campo. Animated by 
a strong desire to rejoin her husband, whom she passion- 
ately loved, she placed herself under the gateway, whence 
she refused to move, notwithstanding the inclemency of 
the weather, and remained there night and day until she 
was liberated. She was reported to her husband as 



196 HISTORY OP GERMANr. [PERIOD V. 

crazed, but his messenger disproved tLe fact, and he re- 
joined hei*, but shortly afterwards died, either of a sudden 
chill, or of poison, which Juanna Avas accused of having 
administered; but a heavier suspicion falls upon Ferdinand. 
Juanna refused to quit the body of her husband, which 
she constantly held in her embrace, and watched over, 
taking it everywhere with her, so that, as had been once 
foretold to him, he wandered more about his Spanish 
kingdom after his death than during his lifetime. She 
was at length persuaded to permit his interment; but 
the body had scarcely been removed ere she imagined 
herself at Medina del Campo, her beloved Philip in the 
Netherlands, and that she was not allowed to join him, 
and her attendants were compelled to beg of her to order 
the vaxxlt to be re-opened in order to convince herself of 
his death. She did so, but had the cojffin once inore 
placed at her side. She then consoled herself with a 
nurse's tale of a dead king, who, after a lapse of fourteen 
years, was restored to life, and with childish delight 
awaited the day. On finding her hopes disapi:)ointed she 
became incurably insane, and was put under restraint. 
She survived her husband fifty years. Philip left two 
sons, Charles and Ferdinand. His sister, Margaret, 
became Kegent of the Netherlands, whence Albert, the 
brave Duke of Saxony, had been expelled by Philip, and 
degraded to a mere stadtholder of Western-Friesland. 

Maximilian cedes Milan to France by the Treaty 
of Blois (1504).— Charles had been succeeded on the 
throne of France by Louis XII., who renewed the pro- 
jects tipon Italy, and maintained his claims upon Milan 
in right of his grandmother, a Visconti. Venice, ever 
at strife with that city, gladly favoured his "pretensions; 
and Pope Alexander VI., in the hope of gaining by his 
means an Italian throne for his son, the notorious Ctesar 
Borgia, also sided with him. Louis invaded Italy (1500), 
and took possession of Milan. Maximilian beheld the 
successes of the French monarch in Italy, and Ferdinand 
of Naples dragged in chains to France, with impotent 
j-age, and convoked one Diet after another without being 



1273-1520.1 DEATH OF .^rAXJAtlLlAM. 107 

able to raise eitlier money or troops. At length, in the 
hojie of saving his honour, he invested France with the 
duchy of his brother-in-law, Sforza, and, by the treaty of 
Blois (1504), ceded Milan to France for the sum of 
200,000 francs. The marriage of Charles, Maximilian's 
grandson, with Claudia, the daughter of Louis, who it 
■was stipulated should bring Milan in dowry to the House 
of Hapsburg, also formed one of the articles of this treaty; 
and in the event of any impediment to the marriage being 
raised by France, Milan Avas to be unconditionally restored 
to the House of Austria. The marriage of the Archduke 
Ferdinand with Anna, the youthful daughter of Wladis- 
law of Hungary and Eohemia, was more fortunate. 
Ferdinand of Spain, unable to tolerate the Hapsbui'g 
as his successor on the throne, entered into a league 
with France, who instantly infringed the treaty of Blois, 
and Claudia was married to Francis of Anjou, the heir 
apparent to the thx-one of France. Maximilian, enraged 
at Louis's perfidy, vainly called upon the imperial estates 
of Germany to revenge the insult; he was merely enabled 
to raise a small body of troops, with which he crossed the 
Alps to take possession of Milan, and of being finally 
crowned by the Pope. The Venetians, however, refused 
to grant him a free passage, defeated him at Catora, and 
compelled him to retrace his steps. At Trient, Lang, 
Archbishop of Salzburg, placed the crown on his brow 
in the name of the Pope (1508). The confederation, 
overwhelmed with reproaches, and moved to shame by 
the earnest appeal of the Emperor to their honour as 
Germans, sent ambassadors to Constance, to lay excuses 
for their conduct before the Emperor; but the reconcilia- 
tion that ensued was speedily forgotten on the unexpected 
annunciation of the alliance of the Emperor Avith France. 
Decline and Death of Maximilian. — The Elector of 
Saxony and Maximilian were the two senior princes of 
Gei'many; the latter Avas declining to the close of a life 
which his own vague and indefinite views of policy, and 
wasteful habits with regard to money, had contributed to 
embitter and embroil. Since his treaty with the Swiss 



19S lilSTOilY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

in 1499, Maximilian had been deeply invoived in all the 
bloody and disgraceful politics of Italy. He had failed 
to rescue the duchy of Milan, a fief of the empire, from 
the grasp of Louis XII.; his connection, Ludovico Sforza, 
had pined away his latter years in French dungeons, to 
which the perfidy of his Swiss mercenaries had consigned 
him; the ill-fated King of Naples taxed him with neglect- 
ing to supply the aid for which he had received a sum of 
money, and his succession to the League of Cambray, 
that enduring monument of the folly and wickedness of 
the sixteenth century, with his vacillating policy subse- 
quently, have almost counterbalanced, in the judgment 
of posterity, the innate good qualities of his character, 
and the iindoubted improvements introduced by him into 
the machinery of the empire, and internal administration 
of his own dominions. His health was now declining, 
and he survived by only three months the Diet of Augs- 
burg in October 1518, thus witnessing the first outbreak 
of that movement which was to form the centi-e of 
German afiairs for a period of one hundred and thirty 
yeai'S. He died in peace, and Avith devotion, at Wels, 
on January 12, 1519. 

The Reformation (1517).— The date fixed by common 
consent as that of the commencement of the Reformation 
is the year 1517, during the course of which the con- 
spiracy of his cardinals against Leo X., and the termina- 
tion of the dilatory and irregular sittings of the Council 
of Lateran took place. The eyes of men had been 
gradually opened to the frauds and corruptions of the 
E-omish Church, and the rapacity of the Coui-t of Rome 
had alienated the minds of princes and people. The 
awakened love of knowledge led men to aspire after 
freedom of thought, and to feel heavy the yoke which 
the Church of Rome, though never less intolerant or 
ai'bibrary, imposed in all laiatters relating to religious 
doctrine. Mental emancipation was panted after. A 
proper occasion and a bold leader were all that were 
wanting to excite the flames of spiritual rebellion. The 
occasion was soon presented, and the leader appeared. 



1273-1520.1 MARTIN LutheR. 199 

V 

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben on the 10th 
November 1483. His father, a miner, near that j^lace, 
sent him, in his fourteenth year, to the High School at 
Magdeburg, where he was compelled to eke out his scanty 
means by begging and Lallad-singing, practices then not 
uncommon. The usual studies of that age were ill adapted 
to satisfy his searching spirit. In 1505, he entered into 
the Augustine fraternity, much against the will of his 
father. A gloomy turn of mind, chequered with frequent 
fits of moody depression, led him, at the advice of his 
superior, Stauptz, to seek a remedy in the careful study 
of the Scriptures. Religious belief, in the sense of a true 
and undivided faith in the doctrines of Christianity, had 
no recognised existence at the period we have reached. 
But this absence of religious belief was combined with a 
most implicit trust in the dii-ections and authority of the 
Church. The first book that Guttenberg published in 
1451 was the Holy Bible — in the Latin language, to be 
sure, and after the Vulgate edition, but still containing, 
to those who could gather it, the manna of the Woi'd. 
Two years after that, in 1453, the capture of Constan- 
tinople by the Tiirks had scattered the learning of the 
Greeks among all the nations of the West. The univer- 
sities were soon supplied with professors, who displayed 
the hitherto unexplored treasures of the language of 
Pericles and Demosthenes. Everywhere a spirit of in- 
quiry began to reawaken, but limited as yet to subjects 
of philosophy and antiquity. Erasmus was alai'med at 
the state of feeling in 1516, and expressed his belief that, 
if those Grecian studies were pursued, the ancient deities 
would resume their sway. But the Bible was akeady 
reaping its appointed harvest. Its voice, lost in the din 
of speculative philosophies and the dissipations of courts, 
Avas heard in obscure places, where it had never pene- 
trated before. In 1505, Luther was twenty-two years of 
age. He had made himself a scholar by attendance at 
schools where his poverty almost debarred him from 
appearing. Afterwards he had gone to Erfurt, and, tired 
or afraid of the world, anxious for opportunities of self- 



200 HISTORY OF GERMANY, [PERIOD V. 

examination, and dissatisfied witli his spiritual state, ho 
entered the convent of the Angustines, as ah-eady related, 
and in two years more, in 1507, he became priest and 
monk. A journey to Rome, in 1510, on the business of 
his Order, brought under his view the depravity of the 
Papal Court, over which at that time the military Julius 
II. presided, and we may enter into the surprise of Luther 
at seeing the Father of the Faithful breathing blood 
and ruin to his rival neighboui's. But the force of early 
edvication was still unimpaired. The Pope was Poj)e, and 
the devout German thought of him on his knees. But 
in the year 1517, a man of the name of Tetzel, a Domini- 
can of the rudest manners and most brazen audacit}^, 
appeared in the market-place of Wittenberg, ringing a bell, 
and hawking indulgences from the Holy See, to be sold 
to all the faithful. A new Pope was on the throne, the 
voluptuous Leo X. He had resolved to carry on the 
buildings of the great Church of St. Peter, and having 
exhausted his funds in riotous living, he sent round his 
emissaries to collect fresh treasures by the sale of pardons 
for human sin. "Pour in your money," cried Tetzel, 
" and whatever crimes you have committed, or may 
commit, are forgiven ! Pour in your coin, and the souls 
of your friends and relations will fly out of purgatory the 
moment they hear the chink of your dollars at the bottom 
of the box." Luther was then doctor of divinity, pro- 
fessor in the University, and pastoral visitor of two 
provinces of the empire. He felt it was his duty to 
interfere. He learned for the first time himself how far 
indulgencies were suj)posed to go. He wrote and preached 
against them ; he was listened to with admiration : opposi- 
tion excited him; he had, though not profoundly learned, 
a strong sense of truth, and a vigorous imagination; his 
eloquence was popular, his command of his native tongue 
great; his soul was full of love to his country and man- 
kind, and his courage in maintaining what he held to be 
true invincible. 

On the festival of All Saints in November 1517, Luther 
read a series of propositions against indulgences in the 



1273-1520.] HENRY VIII. OF ENGLAND. 201 

g'veat cliurcii, and startled all Germany like a thunder- 
clap Avith a printed sermon on the same subject. The 
press began its work, and people no longer fought in 
darkness. Nationalities were at an end when so wide- 
embracing a subject was treated by so universal an agent. 
The monk's voice was heard in all lands, even in the 
walls of Rome, and crossed the sea, and came in due time 
to England. " Tush ! tush ! 'tis a quarrel of monks," 
said Leo X. ; and with an aifectation of candour, he re- 
marked, " This Luther Avrites well j he is a man of fine 
genius." 

Henry VIII. of England — Pope Leo X., and Luther. 
— Gallant young Henry VIII. thought it a good oppor- 
tunity to show his talent, and meditated an assault on 
the heretic — a curious duel between a pale recluse and 
the gayest prince in Christendom. But the recluse was 
none the worse when the book was published, and the 
prince earned, from the gratitude of the Pope, the name 
of " Defender of the Faith," which is still one of the 
titles of the English crown. Penniless Maximilian looked 
on well pleased, and wrote to a Saxon counsellor : " All 
the popes I have had anything to do with have been 
rogu.es and cheats. The game with the priests is begin- 
ning. What your monk is doing is not to be despised ; 
take care of him." Luther's own prince, the Elector of 
Saxony, Avas his 6rm friend, and on one side or other all 
Europe was on the gaze. Leo at last perceived the 
danger, and summoned the monk to Home. He might 
as well have yielded in the struggle at once, for from 
Pome he never could have returned alive. He consented, 
however, to appear before the Legate at Augsburg, at- 
tended by a strong body-guard furnished by the Elector, 
and held his ground against the threats and promises of 
the Cardinal Cajetan. When Charles V. obtained the 
empire, he was again summoned and appeared before 
the Diet at Worms. He was dismissed; and, under 
the protection of the Elector of Saxony, he still con- 
tinued to ^''propagate his opinions through the north of 
Germany. 



202 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD V. 

Commencement of Modern History. — The Middle 
Ages end -with Maximilian, tlieir last representative, A 
new epocli is now readied — that of the three great Re- 
volutions marking the transition from the Middle Ages 
to Modern Times: — 1. The extinction of feudalism; 2, 
The commencement of ocean navigation, and discovery 
of the New World; 3. The causes which led to the Re- 
formation, of the Church. The effects of these mighty 
changes upon European civilization will be noticed in 
detail hereafter in the Chcfpter on Progress. 



1273-1520.] TABLE OP CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 



203 



Nicholas V. 1 
CaHxtus III. 1 
Pius II. 1 
Paul II. 1 
Sixtus IV. 1 
Innocent VIII. 1 
Alexander VI. 1 
Pius III. 1 
Julius II. 1 
Leo X. 


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Maximilian I. - 


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SIXTH PERIOD. 

FROM CHARLES V. TO THE PEACE OP WESTPHALIA. 

(1519--1648). 

Charles V. (1519). — As Maximilian left no son, the 
l^artisans of the House of Avistria cast tlieir eyes on the 
eldest of his grandsons, Chaiies, King of Spain, But 
the youthful monarch had many opponents. As King 
of Naples, which he inherited through Ferdinand of 
Aragon, he was too dangeroiis a neighbour to the Pajial 
See for Leo X. to wish, him success; as King of Spain, 
Lord of the Netherlands, and Archduke of Austria, his 
power was justly dreaded by the states of the empire and 
by Europe. He had for his competitor Francis I. of 
France, who bad distinguished himself by the conquest 
of the Milanese, and the adjustment of the contending 
interests of the Italian states. The German electors, 
afraid of the exorbitant power both of Charles and of 
Francis, would have rejected both, and conferred the 
imperial crown on Frederick, Duke of Saxony; but this 
extraordinary man declined the proffered dignity, and his 
counsel determined the election in favour of Charles of 
Austria (1519). 

Hostilities between Charles V. and Francis I. of 

France. — Charles V. and Francis I. were now declared 
enemies, and their mutual claims on each other's dominions 
were the subject of perpetual hostility. The Emperoi- 
claimed Artois as part of the Netherlands. Francis ]ire- 
pared to make good his right to the two Sicilies. Charles 
had to defend Milan, and support his title to Navarre, 
which had been wrested from France by his grandfathei', 
Ferdinand. Hemy YIII. of England was courted by the 



1519-1G48.] ARRIVAL OF CHARLES V. 205 

rival monarclis, as the weiglit of England was sufficient 
to turn the scale, where the power of each was neaily 
balanced, Leo X. would fain have interposed between 
the rivals, biit they Avere both too great to be under his 
control. Charles in the views of universal empire which 
he early conceived, had, thei'efore, apparently only Fi'ancis 
to impede him; but his own character, and the strength 
and resources of his kingdom, gave the latter such advan- 
tages, that only ambition could have blinded the Emperor 
to the plain fact that France was then, as ever, unconquer- 
able. But there was just at this jDeriod a moral power 
arising, more effectual to check the ambition of the 
Emperor than even the chivalry of France. The great 
reformation of religion had now commenced. 

State of Grermany on the Arrival of Charles V. 
(1520). — A period of sixteen months intervened from 
the election of Charles nntil his arrival, during which 
the regency was administered by the Electors Pala- 
tine and of Saxony. Their influence was eminently 
favourable to the infant Reformation. At the end of 
this interval the new Emperor had arrived from Spain, 
and had been formally crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle (Oct. 
23, 1520). Charles found Germany disturbed by Luther's 
incipient scheme. The Emperor was now twenty-one 
years old. His sceptre stretched over the half of Europe, 
and across the great sea to the golden realm of Mexico. 
When Leo saw the safe accession of Charles V., the faith- 
ful servant of St. Peter, he pushed matters with a higher 
hand against the daring innovator. At a Diet held at 
Wonns in Jan. 1521, Luther was summoned to appear, 
and Chai'les gave him a safe-conduct for his security. 
Martin begged a new gown from the not very lavish 
elector, and went in a sort of chariot to the appointed 
city, serene and confident, trusting in the goodness of his 
cause. Such a scene never occuri-ed in any age of the 
world as was presented when the assembly met. All the 
peers and potentates of the German Empire, presided 
over by the most powerful ruler that ever had been 
known in Europe, were gathered to hear the trial and 



205 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

condemnation of a tliin, wan-visaged young man, dressed 
in a monk's gown and hood, and worn with the fatigues 
and hazards of his recent life. 

Luther refused to retract his opinions, and appealed 
to a general council. So the Chancellor of Treves came 
to him and said, " Martin, thou art disobedient to his 
Imperial Majesty, therefore depart hence under the safe- 
conduct he has given thee," and the monk departed. As 
he was nearing his destination, and was passing through 
a wood alone, some horsemen seized his person, dressed 
him in military garb, and put on him a false beard. They 
then mounted him on a led horse, and rode rapidly away. 
His friends were anxious about his fate, for a dreadful 
sentence had been uttered against him by the Emperor 
on the day when his safe-conduct expired, forbidding any 
one to sustain or shelter him, but ordering all persons to 
arrest and bring him into prison to await the judgment 
he deserved. People thought he had been waylaid and 
killed, or at all events sent into a dungeon. Meantime 
he was living peaceably and comfortably in the Castle 
of Wartburg, to which he had been conveyed in this 
mysterious manner by his friend the Elector, safe from 
the machinations of his enemies, and busily engaged in 
his immortal translation of the Holy Scriptures. 

League against Francis I. of France. — While Charles 
was absent from Spain, the towns of Castile broke out 
into open insurrection. Francis I. seized the opportunity 
of recovering from John d' Albert ]Sra,varre, which Ferdi- 
nand had unjustly seized. A French army conquered it; 
but venturing to advance into Spain, it was defeated, and 
Navarre recovered. Francis invaded the Low Countries 
without advantage. A league was now formed between 
the Pope, Henry VIII., and Charles, against the King 
of France. The Milanese, disgusted with the insolence 
and exactions of the French, resolved to expel them, and 
put themselves under Francis Sforza, brother to their 
late duke. The Pope hired Swiss, and formed an army 
under Prosper Colonna to assist them. The French were 
defeated; Lautrec, their commander, fled to Yeuicej and 



1519-1G4S.] THE CONSTABLE BOURBON. 207 

tliey lost everything but Cremona, tlae Castle of Milan, 
and a few other places. Joy at this success is said to 
have terminated the life of Leo X. 

On the death of Leo X., Charles placed his preceptor, 
Cardinal Adrian on the Papal thi'one, in 1521, though 
he was a native of Utrecht, and almost a stranger at 
Rome; and by the promise of elevating Wolsey, the 
minister of Henry VIII., to that dignity, on the death of 
Adrian, gained the alliance of the English monarch in his 
war against France. He also found means of detaching 
Venice and Genoa from the interests of his competitor. 

Defection of the Constable Bourbon — Francis I. 
made Prisoner by Bourbon. — At this critical time, when 
he had not only almost all Europe against him, but Avas 
in want of money, Francis imprudently quarrelled with 
his best genei'al, the Constable of Bourbon; who, in re- 
venge, deserted to the Emperor, and was by him invested 
with the chief command of his armies. The imperial and 
Italian generals under him (for most of the princes of 
Italy were adverse to the government of France), were 
far superior in abilities to their opponents. Their troops 
also were superior, more numerous, and better paid. The 
French were defeated at Biagrassa, and Charles was carry- 
ing everything before him in Italy, when Francis entered 
the Milanese, and retook the capital ; some changes having 
taken place in his favour, by the defection of the new 
Pope, Clement VII., from the party of Charles, as well 
as of John de' Medici, one of the best generals of those 
days. But, in the subsequent battle of Pavia, though 
Francis displayed the utmost valour, his troops were 
entirely defeated, and the French monarch became the 
Constable of Bourbon's prisoner (1525). It was upon this 
occasion that he wrote to his mother, " Madame, all is 
lost but my honour." 

The Emperor made no advantage of his good fortune, 
strangely neglecting all the opportunities which it offered. 
By the treaty of Madrid (March, 1526), Francis regained 
his liberty in the following year, on yielding to Chai^les 
the duchy of Burgundy, and the superiority of Flanders 



208 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

and Artois. He gave liis two sons as hostages for tlie 
fulfilment of these conditions; but the States refused to 
ratify them, and the failure was compromised for a sum 
of money. 

Rome Captured and Sacked by the Imperialists — 
Death of Bourbon. — The war was now renewed. The 
Pope and mosb of the Italian powers, exasperated by the 
tyranny of Charles, and the cruelty and excesses of the 
Spanish troops, took the part of Francis. Hemy YIII. 
of England also espoused his cause. Bourbon com- 
manded the imperial forces in the Milanese, and finding 
his soldiers becoming mutinous for want of pay, he re- 
solved to march to Rome, and pacify their discontent by 
giving them the plunder of the Eternal City. At the 
approach of the imperial army, Clement shut himself up 
in the Castle of St. Angelo, leaving the citizens to make 
the best defence they could. The assault was given early 
in the morning of the 6th May 1527, and as Bourbon 
was in the act of placing a scaling ladder against the 
walls, he was killed by a random shot from the town, 
fired, it is said, by Michael Angelo. His soldiers, by 
whom he was much beloved, cruelly avenged him. The 
city was taken and given up to plunder. During nine 
months, Bome was subjected to tortures and outrages 
which even the Goths and Vandals had not inflicted 
upon her. It was the army of Charles V. which pro- 
faned thus the capital of Christianity, and which kept 
the Pope a captive in St. Angelo. The Emperor, it is 
trvie, in order to conceal the part he had taken in this 
great scandal, caused masses to be said for the delivei'- 
ance of the Holy Father; but the robbers were only 
driven from their prey by a pestilence, and the approach 
of Lautrec, who, after reducing the Milanese, had advanced 
rapidly to the succour of the Pope. Of the numerous 
hosts which had marched to the sack of Borne, scarcely 
500 survived to leave it, when it was evacuated about 
ten months after the capture. Francis accused Charles 
V. of these horrors, by which the latter profited whilst 
he repudiated them. 



1519-1G4S.] THE DIET OF AUGSBURG. 209 

Campaigns of Charles V. against the Turks. — After 
the conclusion of the peace of Canibray (1529), which 
restored to the two sons of Francis their liberty, and to 
the King, their father, the duchy of Burgundy, Charles 
visited Italy, and received the imperial diadem irom Pope 
Clement VII., disposing of the diflerent states of Lom- 
bardy to various princes for what money he could get. 
The Turks having invaded Hungary, the Emperor marched 
against them in person, assisted by his brother, Ferdinand, 
and compelled the Sultan Soliman, with an ai'my of 
300,000 men, to evacuate the country. He soon after 
embarked for Afiica, to replace the dethroned Muley 
Hassan in the sovereignty of Tunis and Algiei-s, which 
had been iisurped by Hayradin Barbarossa, and he 
achieved the enterprise with honour. His reputation at 
this period exceeded that of all the sovereigns of Europe, 
both for political ability, for real power, and the extent 
and opvilence of his dominions; but he had a hard task 
upon his hands, having at one and the same time to 
guard against the Turks and the French, and the latter 
both on the north and the south. 

The Lutheran Party styled Protestants. — In 1529, 
a diet assembled at Spires, where the princes of the 
empire decided by a majority of votes that Church affairs 
should remain as they were until a general council could 
be held. The Lutheran princes immediately drew up and 
forwarded to the Emperor a 2^rotesf, from which circum- 
stance they and all the Lutheran party were thenceforth 
styled Protestants. 

The Diet of Augsburg (1530).— While Charles was 
engaged in the Italian wars, the opinions of the Re- 
formers had spread rapidly in Germany. While at 
enmity with the Pope, the Emperor was not very anxious 
to discourage them; but now apprehending danger from 
them to the imperial authority, he resolved to take 
measures for their suppression. The Emperor quitted 
Bologna, in the close of March 1530, for Augsburg; at 
which the confession of faith of the Protestants was read 
and defended by Melancthon and other.s, A decree waa 

Q 



210 



HISTORY OP GERMANY. 



[period VI. 



issued against them, and coercive measures resolved on. 
The Protestant princes met at Smalcalde, and entered 
into a league for mutual defence, and a secret alliance 
with the kings of France and England. The Turks were 
now menacing Hungary, and Charles saw that this was 
no time for violent measures. A treaty was therefore 
concluded, in which he granted the Protestants liberty of 
conscience till the meeting of a general council, and they 
engaged to a'ssist him aji^ainst the Turks. 



i^Hf*i'!«si 






AUGSBURO. 



The Emperor's Brother, Ferdinand, Elected King 
of the Romans (1531). — The Elector of Saxony drew 
up a protest against the election of Ferdinand as King 
of the Romans (to whom Chaiies had already ceded his 
Austrian possessions), which was presented by his son, 
John Frederick, to the Emperor at Cologne, whither he 
had proceeded after the breaking up of the Diet of Augs- 
burg; but it pi'oduced no effect. It had been at first' 
contemplated to deprive the Elector of Saxony of his 



1519-1C48.] INVASION OF HUNGARY. 211 

vote, as a lievetic, under the bull of Leo X.; but tlie 
otlier electors would not agree to a stroke whicli miglit 
next fall upon themselves. The five Roman Catholic 
electors, the Palatine, Brandenburg, Mentz, Treves, and 
Cologne, had been early gained over by gifts and promises ; 
and Ferdinand himself, as King of Bohemia, had a vote. 
He was elected, January 5, 1531, and two days after- 
wards crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. In his capitulation 
he pledged himself to observe the recess of the Diet of 
Augsburg. From this time forwards, Charles left the 
government of Germany mostly to his brother, requiring 
only to be consulted in things of the last importance. 
The latter, however, soon found that the new title did 
not give him more power than that possessed by any 
otlier prince of the empire. 

Invasion of Hungary by the Turks — The Ana- 
baptists. — Suliman entered Hungary at the head of 
200,000 men. Charles took the command of 80,000 
foot and 20,000 horse, besides a vast body of irregulars, 
near Vienna (1532). The Sultan retired; and Charles 
returned to Spain, and engaged in a successful expedition 
against Tunis. While he was absent the sect of the Ana- 
baptists seized on the city of Miinster, and defended it 
for some time courageously against the troops of the 
bishop; but the fanatic Bockold, who had assumed the 
title of King, and Knipperdoling were taken prisoners 
and executed ; their corpses being suspended in ii*on cages 
on one of the highest towers in the city (1535). 

While Chai'les was in Africa, Frajicis revived his claim 
on Italy. The King of England, engaged about his 
divorce from Catherine of Aragon, declined having to 
do with the affairs of the Continent; and the League of 
Smalcalde, indignant at the cruelties inflicted on some 
Protestants in Paris, refused to unite with Francis. The 
latter resolved, even without allies, to venture on war, 
under pretence of chastising the Duke of Milan for the 
murder of his ambassador. He approached Italy; but 
instead of entering the Milanese, he seized a great part 
of the dominions of the Duke of Savoy, who appealed 



212 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

in .vain to Charles, whose excliequer was now completely 
empty. Meantime, Sforza died without issue, and the 
rights, which had only been surrendered to him and his 
heu's, returned to Francis. Instead, however, of entering 
at once on the duchy, he wasted his time in negotiation, 
while Charles took possession of it as a vacant fief of the 
empire, though still pretending to own the equity of the 
claims of the French monarch. 

The Emperor having now procured sufficient supplies 
of money, resolved on attempting the conquest of France. 
Having driA^en the French out of Savoy, he invaded the 
southern provinces at the head of 50,000 men. Two 
other armies were ordered to enter Picardy and Cham- 
pagne. The sj^stem adopted by Francis was defensive. 
From the Alps and Dauphiny to Marseilles and the sea 
the country was laid waste; strong garrisons placed iii 
Aries and Marseilles ; one French army strongly encamped 
near Avignon, another at Valence. After fruitlessly in- 
vesting Aries and Marseilles, and spending two months 
in Provence, Charles retreated with tlie loss of one-half of 
his troops by disease and famine. An attempt by Francis 
on the Low Countries, was followed by a truce at Nice, 
under the mediation of Pope Paul III. (1538). 

Charles's Disastrous Expedition against Algiers 
(1541). — The Emperor suppressed an insurrection which 
had broken out in the city of Ghent; but he was forced 
to make concessions to the Protestants in Germany, to 
gain their assistance against Suliman, who had seized a 
part of Hungary. But the favourite object of Charles 
was the conquest of Algiers; and in the end of autumn 
he, contrary to the advice of Doria, his admiral, landed in 
Africa with a large ai'my; but tempests scattered his iieet 
and destroyed his soldiers, and he was forced to re-embark, 
with the loss of the greater part of his men. 

In 1542, the war between the ri^'al monarchs broke 
out anew. The Emperor was suppoi'ted by the King of 
England and the Protestant princes, to whom he had 
made further concessions. Francis was allied with the 
Kings of Denmark aud Sweden, and lie renewed the treaty 



1519-16'1S.] THE COraCIL OF TRENT. 213 

he had formerly made with Suliman. During two years 
France, Sjiain, Italy, and the Low Countries were the 
scenes of war; but the only battle of consequence was 
that of Cerisoles, gained by the French, in which 10,000 
Imperialists fell. A peace was concluded at CresiH. The 
chief articles wei'e, that the Emperor should give one of 
his own or his brother Ferdinand's daughters to the Duke 
of Orleans, second son of Francis, and Avith her the duchy 
of Milan, and renounce all claim to Burgundy; Francis 
doing the same to Naples, Artois, and Flanders; and that 
they should vmite against the Turks (1544). 

The Council of Trent. — Charles and the Pope being 
noAV both intent on putting down the Gei'man Protestants, 
the Council of Trent was at length opened for the de- 
spatch of business (December 13, 1545). A general 
council had always been regarded as affording the last 
chance of restoring the unity of the Church, and when 
its authority was rejected by the Protestants, no alterna- 
tive seemed left but an appeal to arms. That extreraitj^, 
which might have crushed Protestantism when in . its 
infancy, had been hitherto avoided. Lixther did not live 
to behold these scenes of violence. At the very time 
when his doctrines were under examination at Trent, the 
champion of Protestantism, whose strong head and fear- 
less heart had thus engaged in angry and anxious discus- 
sion, as over their dearest interests both in this world 
and the next, the highest, the most powerful, and the 
most learned men in Europe, was quietly expiring in the 
obscure little town that gave him birth. He had gone 
to Eisleben to reconcile a quarrel that had arisen between 
the Coiuits Mansfeld; and, while engaged in this mission 
of peace, was attacked with inflammation, which termi- 
nated his life, February 18, 1546, at the age of sixty- 
three. The Elector of Saxony caused his funeral to be 
celebrated with great pomp. A few months later, when, 
after the route of the Protestant army at the battle of 
jMuhlberg, Charles entered Wittemberg in triumph, 
where Luther's ashes repose, Aloa advised him to dis- 
inter and burn the body of the arch-heretic. " Let him 



2U 



HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 



rest," was tlie magnanimous rej)ly; "he has appeai-ed 
before his judge ere now — I wage war with the living, 
not the dead." 




WIIJEMBEKG. 

The Religious War — Struggle for Supremacy be- 
tween France and the House of Austria. — The pro- 
gress of the Reformation liad hitherto been peaceful; we 
now enter upon an epoch when its path was marked by- 
blood — a catastrophe foreseen and dreaded by Luther, but 
which he was spared from witnessing. For a period of 
nearly a century, our attention will be chiefly arrested 
by religious wars, Avhich, however, are often combined 
with a great political movement that had already been 
initiated — the striiggle for supremacy between France 
and the House of Austria. 

One of the terms of the peace of Crespi was that both 
sovereigns engaged themselves to destroy Protestantism 
in their respective dominions. In France they began to 
fulfil this engagement by massacring the Protestants in 
the towns of Cabrieres and Merindol; in Germany Charles 



1519-1G48.] THE IREATY OF NASSAU. 21 6 

2^roceeded by less sanguinary and more formal means. 
The Diet of Worms, in 1545, passed several resolutions 
against the Protestants, in consequence of which they 
rose in arms in 1546, under Frederick, Elector of Saxony, 
and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse. Charles defeated them, 
and took the two princes prisoners. He gave the elec- 
torate of Saxony to Maurice, a kinsman of Frederick. 
Maurice acted with consummate skill, so as to deceive 
Charles himself, during several years, as to his real inten- 
tions. He ai:>peared to side with the Emperor, fought 
bravely for him, but at the same time took care that the 
cause of tlie Protestants should not be rendered totally 
desperate; he in-ged Charles to liberate the Landgrave of 
Hesse, who was his father-in-law, and, on Charles's re- 
peated refusals, he entei'ed into secret correspondence with 
the other Protestant princes to be ready to rise at a given 
signaL At last, in 1552, Maurice threw off the mask, by 
taking the field at the head of the Protestant confederacy, 
and was very near surprising the Emperor at Innspruck. 
The Treaty of Passau — Its effect upon Protestantism. 
— Main-ice was detained, after a successful assault upon 
the imperial camp at Reuti, by a mutiny in one of his 
regiments. A day was lost by this disturbance, which 
enabled Chai-les to make his escape by fleeing to the Alps 
in a litter, in the midst of a dark rainy night. He now 
illustrated, in his own fortunes, the truth of the words 
with which he had taunted John Frederick ;in 1547. 
The Emperor, so lately more absolute than any since 
the Swabian line, was compelled to fly night and day, in 
his weak and ailing condition, across the rugged mountain 
roads which lead from Innspruck to Yillach. He was 
menaced with captivity, in retribution for that in which 
he had so long detained the two unfortunate princes; he 
was stung with the successful treachery of his favourite; 
and, in the decline of life, he was condemned to see the 
hopes of a re-union in the Church rudely dashed to the 
groimd. The Council of Trent broke up, and did not re- 
assemble. A conference was held at Passau : the terms 
proposed in the name of the princes of the empire were 



216 History of Germany. [period vr. 

rejected by the Emperor. Maurice laid siege to Frank- 
fort, and the haughty spirit of Charles was forced to bend. 
The treaty of Passau overthrew the fabric he had so long 
been raising, and placed the Protestant religion of Ger- 
many on a secui'e basis. 

Such is the sum of the treaty of Passau, the second 
decided advance made by the tenets of the Reformation, 
if the provisional truce of Nuremburg may be considered 
as the first. Philip of Hesse was liberated from his con- 
finement at Louvain. He was received at the frontiers 
of Hesse by his sons and councillors. Sorrows had broken 
down his health and whitened his hair, although he was 
still in middle age. It must have been a touching sight 
to have witnessed his progress through his dominions, 
amid the acclamations of his subjects, who had experienced, 
even from his prison-house, the wise rule of their sove- 
reign; and to have seen him kneeling in the church of 
Cassel by the tomb of his faithful consort. 

Death of Maurice of Saxony (1553). — And Maurice 
soon passed away from the scene. Charles, after the 
pacification, had commenced a devastating war in Lor- 
raine; but after in vain attempting to reduce Metz, which 
was defended by the Duke of Lorraine with the greatest 
gallantry, he was compelled, in January 1552, to abandon 
the campaign, which had been one of unijaralleled sufier- 
ing and horror. Hostilities, however, were prolonged 
in the Netherlands with every atrocity, until the truce 
of Vaucelles in 1556. But the bloodthirsty Albert of 
Brandenburg, unable to live in an atmosphere of com- 
parative purity, after the siege of Metz had been raised, 
commenced a series of atrocities in Pranconia, which 
evoked the allied hostility of Maurice and Ferdinand. 
They met at Sievershausen, on the Weser, on July 9, 
1553. Albert was defeated, but Maurice died of his 
wounds two days afterwards. 

Thus perished Maurice of Saxony, a traitor, in the 
world's opinion, to his kinsman, his country, and his 
sovereign; yet by his instrumentality did Providence 
complete the first stage of the holy work of the Pteforma- 



1519-1G4S.] CIlAPvLES V. ABDICATES. 217 

tion. Allbsrt, the antagonist of Maurice, aftei- a defeat 
by Henry, Duke of Brunswick, died in 1557. 

Tiius we have seen the Eeformation in its birth biing- 
ing together the princes and cities of the empire as fiicnds 
or foes, and recognised at last by a formal Act. But this 
is but the history of its childhood; we have yet to con- 
sider its progress and difficulties from the peace of Augs- 
burg (called the " Peace of Religion," for it was the 
foundation of religious freedom in Germany), until its 
triumph in 1648. And this stage will divide itself into 
two parts; the first containing the silent seeds of change 
and quarrel, xmtil the reign of Rodolph II.; the second, 
the fiery maturity of these evil seeds, fomented by the 
contest of the rival principles embodied in Spain and her 
minion Austria, and in France and her subsidiary, Sweden. 

The Marriage of Philip of Spain and Mary of 
England. — In 1554, Philip, Charles's son, married Mary 
Tudor, Queen of England, upon which occasion his father 
made over to him the crowns of Naples. In 1555, Joanna 
of Spain died, having been insane for nearly fifty years. 

Charles V. Abdicates (1555)— His Death (1558).— 
Charles being now nominally, as well as in reality, sole 
King of the Spanish monarchy, put in eflect a resolution 
which he had formed for some years before. A month 
subsequently to the conclusion of the Religious Peace of 
Augsburg, Charles V., in an assembly of the estates at 
Brussels, on the 25th of October 1555, appeared seated 
between his son, Philip, and his two sisters, the widowed 
queens of Bohemia and of France, and solemnly resigned 
to his son his paternal dominions of Burgundy, Brabant, 
and the Netherlands, releasing his subjects in those 
countries from their allegiance to himself, and commend- 
ing to them the service of his successor. After this 
solemn transfer, the sovereign of so many and fair posses- 
sions rose, and leaning on the Prince of Orange for sup- 
port, as he was suflmng severely from the gout, addressed 
the audience to the following effect : " Ever since the age 
of seventeen," he said, " he had devoted all his thoughts 
and exertions to public objects, seldom reserving any 



215 



HISTORY OF GERMANY. [pERtOD VI. 



portion of his time for the indulgence of ease or pleasure. 
Nine times have I visited Germany, Spain, six times, 
Italy, seven times, Flanders, ten times : twice have I 
been in England, and also in Africa. I have crossed 
the North Sea four times, and made eight voyages to the 
Mediterranean. Wars I have undertaken from compul- 
sion rather than choice: but no hardship, no exertion 
which I have undergone has caused pangs eqneii to those 




CHARLES V. {From the original by Holbein). 
which I now feel in bidding you farewell; but my failing 
strength tells me that there is no choice. I am not 
so fond of reigning as to wish to retain the sceptre with 
a powerless hand!" He added that "if, in the course of 
a long administration, he had committed errors — as what 
young man has not? — from want of experience, and from 
the common weakness of humanity, I solemnly declare 



1519-1648.] FERDINAND I. OP AUSTRIA. 219 

tliat I have never, knowingly or i)urposely, injured or 
connived at the injury of any person. If there be, indeed, 
any who can bring against me just ground for complaint, 
I entreat him to pardon my errors and injustice." Then 
turning to Philip, he gave him some salutary advice, 
especially to respect the laws and the liberties of his sub- 
jects; after which, exhausted with fatigue and emotion, 
he closed this impressive scene. Two weeks after he made 
over to Philip, with the same solemnity, and before a 
large assembly of Spanish grandees and German princes, 
the crowns of Spain and the Indies. In the following 
year (August 1556), he likewise resigned the imperial 
crown to his brother, Ferdinand, who had already been 
elected King of the Romans and his successor; and after 
visiting his native place, Ghent, he embarked for Spain 
with a small retinue. On landing at Laredo, in Biscay, 
he kissed the ground, saying, " Naked I came out of my 
mother's womb, and naked I return to thee, thou common 
mother of mankind." In February 1557, accompanied 
by one gentleman attendant and twelve domestics, ho 
retired to the monastery of St. Yuste, of the Hieronymite 
order, situated near Plasencia, in Estremadura, in a 
sequestered valley at the foot of the Sierra de Gredos, 
where he caused apartments to be prepared for him. There 
he lived for about eighteen months, employed either in 
his garden, or in contriving works of ingenious mechanism, 
and occasionally diverting himself with literature. In 
the last six months of his existence, his body becoming 
more and more enfeebled by repeated fits of the gout, his 
mind lost its energy, and he fell into gloomy reveries, and 
the practice of ascetic austerities. Among other things 
he had his own funeral obsequies performed in the chapel 
of the monastery (August 30, 1558). The fatigue and 
excitement of this ceremony, in which he took part, 
brought on a fit of fever, which in about three weeks 
carried him off; he died on the 21st of September 1558, 
in his fifty-ninth year. 

Terdinand I. of Austria, younger brother of Charles 
v., was born in 1503. Elected King of the Romans 



220 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

during liis brother's reign, he succeeded him as Emperor 
in consequence of the abdication of Charles, which was 
sanctioned by the Diet of the empire in 1558. It was 
indeed singular that a prince, the circumstances of whose 
position, in the neighbourhood of his melancholy mother, 
and of his grandfather exclusively occupied with worldly 
schemes, seemed to promise but inauspicioiisly for his 
welfare, should, in his more advanced years, have dis- 
played so rare a combination of sagacity and activity; 
that educated and long resident in S^jain, he should he 
able to adopt the habits and feelings of his future empire. 
The change in the behaviour of Ferdinand may, in a great 
measure, be attributed to his keen-sighted ambition. The 
earlier years of his residence, as the vicegerent of his 
brother, in Austria, were neither productive of j)opularity 
to himself, nor passed in harmony with Charles. The 
inhabitants murmured at his severity and exactions, and 
Ferdinand himself was anxious to exchange his uncom- 
fortable position in Austria for the sovereignty of the 
recent conquest of Milan, which Charles was disinclined 
to grant. After his elevation to the title of King of the 
Ilomans, these jealousies and heartburnings gave place 
to vigorous and cordial co-operation Avith his brother in 
affairs of state. No differences, no separate views of policy 
disturbed their harmony; the reserved and stately bearing, 
the unbending coldness and severity of the elder brother, 
the cheerfulness, condescension, and leniency of the younger 
being but the expression of their individual temperaments. 
Ferdinand had married, in 1521, Anna, daughter of 
Ladislaus YI., King of Bohemia and Hungary, and sister 
of Louis, who having succeeded his father in the crown 
of those realms, was killed in the disastrous battle of 
Mohacz, by the Turks, in 1526, and left no issue. Fer- 
dinand, claiming a right to the succession in the name of 
his wife, the states of Bohemia acknowledged him; but 
in Hungary a strong party declared for John of Zapoli, 
Palatine of Transylvania. This was the beginning of a 
long and desolating war, interrupted by occasional truces, 
in which Suliman, Sultan of the Turks, interfered on be- 



1519-1648.] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 221 

half of John, and after John's death, in 1540, on behalf 
of his son, Sigismund. In Bohemia the religious disputes 
between the Callixtines, who were a remnant of the 
Hussites, and the Roman Catholics, occasioned consider- 
able uneasiness to .Ferdinand, who found at last that it 
was his policy to tolerate the former. At the same time, 
however, he eftected a thorough change in the institutions 
of that kingdom, by declaring the crown of Bohemia here- 
ditary in his family, without the sanction of the States. 
This gave rise to a confederacy which opposed Ferdinand 
by force of arms, but was overpowered and dissolved. 

On being proclaimed Emperor of Germany, after having 
signed certain conditions with the electors, which defined 
the boundaries of the imperial authority, and gave security 
to the Protestant religion, Ferdinand notified his election 
to Pope Paul TV,, expressing a desire to be crowned by 
his hands. Paul refused, under the plea that the abdica- 
tion of Charles Y. was effected without the consent of 
the Papal See, and required a fi'esh election to be made. 
Ferdinand, indignant at these jDretensions, ordered his 
ambassador to quit Rome. Paul, however, dying soon 
after, his successor, Pius IV., showed himself more tract- 
able in acknowledging Ferdinand as head of the empire. 
It was then resolved by the electors, Roman Catholic as 
well as Protestant, that in future no Emperor should 
receive the crown from the hands of the Pope, and that 
instead of the customary form in which the Emperor-elect 
professed his obedience to the head of the Church, a mere 
complimentary epistle should be substituted. Thus ended 
the last remains of that terapoi'al dependence of the 
German Empire on the See of Rome, which had been the 
subject of so many controversies and wars. 

Religious Dissensions. — Ferdinand continued through- 
out his reign to hold the balance even between the Pro- 
testants and Roman Catholics with regard to their mutual 
toleration and outward harmony ; he even endeavoured, 
though unsuccessfully, to effect a union of the two com- 
munions, by trying to j)ersuade the Protestants to send 
deputies to, and acknowledge the axithority of the Council 



222 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

assembled at Trent. Tins, however, tliey refused to do, 
unless tlieir theologians were acknowledged as eqnal in 
dignity to the Roman Catholic bishops, and imless the 
Council were transferred from Trent to some city of the 
empire. The Lutheran church had delivered itself from 
the yoke of Rome, and the Lutheran princes made them- 
sel ves almost entirely independent of the Emperor. Could 
they have agreed among themselves, they might have 
spi-ead the blessings both of civil freedom and sound 
religious knowledge, as far as the German tongue was 
spoken. But the Protestants, instead of making common 
canse against the arrogance of Rome, were disjDuting with 
each other about the various tenets of Luther, Zwingli, 
and Calvin. In Prussia, society was shaken to its founda- 
tion by the contentions of the rival sects, headed by 
Osiander and Morlin. The Council of Trent, abandoning 
all hopes of an accommodation, now applied itself solely 
to such measures as were likely to be available to retain- 
ing in the Church those who still belonged to the com- 
munion. Some abuses, such as the immorality of the 
clergy and the sale of indulgences, were in a great 
measure removed. But the supremacy of the Papal See 
was asserted more vehemently than before, and any de- 
parture from the tenets now promulgated as the decision 
of the Church was forbidden on pain of excommunication. 
Since that time there has never been a reasonable hope 
of reconciliation between the Church of Rome and the 
Protestants. Ferdinand, in order to conciliate some at 
least of the dissenting sects in his own hereditary states, 
attempted to obtain of the Vope, among other concessions, 
the use of the cup at the commi;nion table for the laity, 
and the liberty of marriage for the priests. Pius TV., 
however, would not listen to the latter proposition, and 
the negotiations were still pending with regard to the 
former, when the Emperor died at Vienna, in July 1564. 
He left three sons: 1, Maximilian, who succeeded him 
as Emperor, Archduke of Austria, and King of Bohemia 
and Hungary.; 2, Ferdinand, whom he made Coimt of 
Tyrol; 3^ Charles, whom he appointed Duke of Styria, 



1519-1648.] MAXIMILIAN II. 223 

Carintliia, and Carniola. Upon the whole tlie admini- 
stration of Ferdinand was able and enlightened; he main- 
tained religious peace in Germany, he effected some useful 
reforms, and he saw the closing of the Council of Trent. 

From this time the House of Austria was divided into 
two great branches, the successors of Charles V., or the 
Spanish branch, and those of Ferdinand, or the German 
branch. 

Maximilian II. — Towards the close of his life, Fer- 
dinand began to be anxious for the settlement of the 
succession. This wish had led to the elevation of his son 
Maximilian to the dignity of King of the Romans (1562) 
during the first year of the proceedings at Trent. Few 
pi'inces have been personally characterised in terms of 
approbation so iinqualified as those applied to Maximilian 
which do not, after a close and severe scrutiny, appear to 
have been exaggerated. His j^ersonal appearance bore 
the stamp of talent and honesty, his address was frank, 
his manners, in the opinion of many, erred on the side 
of indiscreet and undistinguishing familiarity, and his 
accomplishments were varied and considei'able ; for he 
was well read in history, a practical chemist, and pas- 
sionately fond of music, a science which he thoroughly 
understood. His acquaintance with the languages of 
Europe was extraordinary in eveiy way. For a period 
of three years he had governed Spain to the satisfaction 
of his uncle Charles, by whose daughter, Mary, he had 
sixteen children. But neither did his affection and ad- 
miration for his noble uncle, nor his residence in Spain, 
nor the strong attachment of his consort to the religion 
and habits of that country (to which, after her widow- 
hood, she retired), exercise any prejudicial influence 
upon Maximilian's warm and kindly temperament. In 
his policy as regarded the empire, it was his constant 
aim to preserve the religious peace, which was never 
more threatened than during his reign. Because he had 
so much attachment to the Lutheran doctrines as to 
receive the communion under both kinds, and detested 
persecution^ though he remained in the bosom of the 



22-1 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

Catholic Church, he had great influence with both 
parties. Listening with patience to the comphiints of 
both, and being able to show both that they were 
wrong — the Roman Catholics in seeking to persecute 
the Lutherans of their states, the Lutherans in clamoiir- 
ing for the abolition of the ecclesiastical reservation — 
he persuaded them, for the common good, to refrain from 
open hostilitjr. He even protected the Calvinists, who 
were hated by the Lutherans even more than by the 
Roman Catholics, so fer as to prevail on his own 
■brethren not to join in the persecution. 

Maximilian's policy towards the Elector Palatine, 
Frederick IIL — Frederick III., Elector Palatine, had 
quitted Lutheranism for Calvinism; and so, by the com- 
pact concluded between the Catholics and the followers 
of Luther, had forfeited all claim to toleration. Both 
called for his deposition; but he was a powerful prince; 
he had all his co-religionists throughout Europe at his 
disposal; and his valour was celebrated. Knowing that a 
civil war might even wrap Europe in flames, Maximilian, 
by detaching the Catholics from the confederacy, left the 
odium of the persecution to the Lutherans alone; and 
they, fearful alike of the impiitation and of the con- 
sequences of weakening the Protestant cause, reluctantly 
consented to remain at peace. Had his representations, 
indeed, to the Papal See obtained the attention which 
they deserved, he would have efiected more in this re- 
spect than any of his predecessors. By several popes, the 
use of the cup had been granted to the Bohemians, the 
Austrians, and such of the Germans as insisted on it. 
He besought the Pope to proceed a step further — to con- 
cede the power of marrying to the clergy — and asserted 
that, by this judicious concession, the Catholic Church 
would be more benefitted, and the Lutheran more injured, 
than by all other measures. This, he contended, was a 
mere matter of discipline which did not in the slightest 
degree affect the tenets of the church. But Paul V. was 
inexorable. He had no wish to call another Grand 
Oouwicil so Boon after that of Trent had recorded ita 



PROGRESS OF BRITISH CONQUEST. 225 

in the area of Britisli territory in India Avas made by tlie 
annexation of the extensive province of the Punjaub. 
Its inhabitants, the Sikhs, having a second time challenged 
the might of Britain, Avere totally overthrown at Goojerat 
by Sir Hugh Goiigh; and Lord Dalhousie — less scrupulous 
than his predecessor — boldly annexed the whole province. 
By this accession of territory, the entire north-eastern 
corner of the peninsula was brought under British 
rule. 

In 1853, the i:)rovince of Berar, whose capital was 
Nagpore, became British territory. It had, upon the 
close of the Mahratta war, been annexed to the dominions 
of the nizam. The affairs of the province, however, were 
so grossly mismanaged, that, upon the death of Rughojee 
Bhoslay in 1853, it was added to the Company's posses- 
sions. Thus the area of British dominions was increased 
by some 75,000 square miles. 

The last territorial acquisition of the English in India 
was that of the province of Oude, which took place in 
1856. The annexation, it will be remembered, was a 
consequence of the bad government of its king. The 
process, which has been the subject of much severe com- 
ment, added little short of 30,000 square miles to the 
British dominions, and virtually brought the entire 
peninsula beneath our sway; for although two-thirds of 
Hindustan only is at present under the direct rule of our 
sovereign, the connection of the remaining portion is of 
such a nature that the independence of the states com- 
prising it is but nominal. 

Of the progress of British SAvay, the history of India 
is a mere chronicle. The commercial entei'prise of our 
countrymen dui'ing the Tudor period gave us a first 
footing in this eastern land. The career of Olive substi- 
tuted empire for mere sufferance ; and upon the foundation 
which his genius laid, the vast fabric of British dominion 
arose. The process Avas very gradual at first; but during 
the last half century its develojDment has been altogether 
as rapid. The occurrences of the year 1857 placed the 
edifice in the greatest jeopardy; for it was Avithin the 



226 nisTORY OP india. 

bounds of probability that Britisli power in India "would 
cease. This, however, was not to be. The patience and 
perseverance of our countrymen, and the loyalty of the 
general body of the population averted the threatened 
calamity; and this splendid empire — now under the 
direct rule of Her Gracious Majesty — is reserved to 
us' for our honour, it is to be hoped, and the welfare 
of its people. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE LEADIiS^G li^DIAN STATES. 

Break-up cf the Mohammedan Empire — The Emperor's Territory 
— The Province of Oude — Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa — The 
Deccan or the Nizam's Dominions — The Carnatic — The 
Mahratta Country — Its Else and Condition — j\Iysore — Minor 
States. 

About tlie middle of tlie eighteenth century, when the 
administration of Anglo-Indian aflairs was in the hands 
of Clive, the greater part of the Indian peninsula had 
ceased to own the sway of the Emperor of Delhi or Great 
Mogul. The vast empire of Aurungzebe was no longer 
a homogeneous territory. The integrity of the ancient 
dominion, which his genius had barely served to maintain, 
could no longer, under a succession of feeble princes, be 
upheld; and the soubadahs, nabobs, and rajahs, who, as 
viceroys — Mohammedan and Hindu — had ruled the 
various provinces into which the empire v/as divided, 
began one by one to assert an independence of the im- 
perial court of Delhi. "Wherever," says Macaulay, "the 
viceroys of the Mogul retained authority they became 
sovereigns. They might still acknowledge in words the 
superiority of the house of- Tamerlane ; as a Count of 
Flanders, or a Duke of Burgundy might have acknow- 
ledged the superiority of the most helpless driveller 
among the later Carlovmgians. They might occasionally 
send to their titular sovereign a complimentary present, 
or solicit from him a title of honour. In truth, however, 
they were no longer lieutenants removable at pleasure, 
but independent hereditary princes." 

In this way arose most of the principalities with whose 
several concerns we have had to deal. Koughly speaking, 



228 HISTORY OF INDIA. 

at tlie period above referred to, the Indian peninsula 
may ba said to have been tluxs divided: — The Emperor's 
Territory, represented by Delhi; Bengal, Bahar, and 
Orissa; the Deccan, Carnatic, Mahratta Country, and 
Mysore. 

The Emperor's Territory had, as has been remarked, 
shrunk into insignificance when we compare its present 
with its ancient area and influence. Established in 1193 
as the seat of Mohammedan government by Kuttub-ud- 
Deen, the deputy of the Afghan prince Mohammed 
Gauiy, the city of Delhi continued to be the virtual 
capital of India, and the seat of government of the 
various races of sovereigns into whose hands the imperial 
sway successively fell. The splendour and magnificence 
of the impeiial city, and its great political importance, 
long rendered it an object of incessant attack from the 
Mahi'attas, Afghans, Persians, and other neighbouring and 
warlike people. In 1760, the city and all it represented 
became a bone of contention between the Mahrattas and 
the Afghan general Ahmed Shah Abdally. The decisive 
action of Paniput broke for a time the might of the 
Mahrattas, and secured the prize to the Afghan king. 

The last rejoresentative of the royal line of Aurung 
zebe was no more, having been put to death by his 
treacherous vizier Shaub-ud-Deen. His son, a fugitive 
in Bengal, had indeed proclaimed himself emperor, and 
assumed the bombastic title of Shah Allum or King of 
the World; but the imperial dominions, once so extensiA^e, 
were represented by a few unimportant districts around 
the city of Delhi. Such of its territory as had escaped 
the usurpations of its viceroys were in the hands of 
Ahmed Shah, whose conquests in this part of India had, 
in a measure, restored to the Afghan crown the ancient 
dominions of that nation in this country. 

The province of Oude, long an immediate dependency 
of the Mogul, was early governed by a deputy of the 
emperor, who was styled the vizier. At the date of the 
great battle of Paniput, which decided the fate of thq 



THE LEADING INftlAY/ STATES. 220 

imperial city, tlie honour was vested in Sxifdur Jung. 
Tliis ruler, having quarrelled with his lord, the emperor, 
concerning the cession of the Punjaub to Ahmed Shah, 
retired to his province, bade defiance to his superior, and 
reigned in complete independence. The connection of 
Oude with the empire was henceforth merely a nominal 
one, and may, to all intents and purposes, be regarded as a 
distinct and separate kingdom owning the sway of Sufdur 
Jung — or rather of his son, Sujah-ud-Dowlah. 

The province of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa — if we 
except the district of Rohilcund, an independent and 
powerful Afghan state that lay to the north-Avest of 
Oude — completes the district of Northern India. It had 
originally formed a portion of the imperial dominions, 
having been, so early as the year 1575, brought under the 
sway of the court of Delhi by the great Akbar Khan. 
At the time of which we speak it had become an inde- 
pendent province under the government of an English 
nominee, Meer Jaffiei', the successor of the defeated nabob, 
Suraj-ud-Dowlah. The virtual sovereignty of this pro- 
vince was, however, destined soon to pass into the hands 
of the English. .. . .. --^ 

■ The Deccan, or the Nizam's Dominions, as it may be 
termed, was brought within the pale of the empire by the 
same mastei'-hand that compelled the foregoing province 
to bend to the sway of the imperial court. Its distance 
from the capital, however, and the warlike operations of 
the neighbouruig Mahratta tribes, had rendered it exceed- 
ing difficult of control. During its connection with the 
empire, which Avas maintained until the death of Aurung- 
zebe in 1707, its affairs were managed by a viceroy, known 
as the soubadah or nizam. At the time of the above 
occurrence it was under the rule of Nizam-ul-Mulk 
(Regulator of the State, as his title implies), whose capital 
was Hyderabad. Nizam-ul-Mulk may be regarded as the 
first of a line of independent sovereigns, bearing the title 
of the nizam. The influence of the French under M. 



^•jU history of INDIA. 

Bussy had secured its government, first to Nasir Jting, 
and now to Salabat Jung, his brother. But the territory 
which once had extended northward to the banks of the 
Nerbudda and Mahanuddy, did not now reach beyond 
the Godavery — its northern districts having hxtely fallen 
into the hands of the Mahrattas; while the Carnatic, 
which so recently as the time of Nizam-ul-Mulk had 
been included within its boundaries, was now under the 
independent sway of Mahomed Ally. The independence 
of the Rajah of Kurnal, of the Rajah of Vizagapatam, 
whose territories lay between the Godavery and Pennair, 
and other chiefs, sensibly curtailed its area towards the 
south. It therefore now consisted of the southern por- 
tion of the old Deccan only. 

The Carnatic which lay between the Eastern Ghauts 
and the Bay of Bengal had, as has been said, been de- 
tached from the dominion of the nizam, and was now 
under the rule of Mahomet Ally, whose independent 
government was secured by the English. His dominions, 
which were bounded northward by the Pennair river, and 
southward by the piincipality of Tanjore, were curtailed 
by the presence within their boundary of several indepen- 
dent Hindu principalities, among which may be men- 
tioned that of Arcot, in the possession of Chundah Sahib, 
a nominee of the Prencb . 

The Mahrattas owned an extensive tract of country in 
Western India, between the imperial dominions and the 
nizam's territory, embracing Malwah, Guzerat, Kandeish, 
Berar, and further southward Aurungabad, Bejapore, Tan- 
jore, etc., which latter province had been wrested from 
the emperor and the nizam. Their territory, however, 
was by no means a homogeneous one, being divided among 
certain chieftains who held a kind of independent sway 
within the bounds of- their several dominions. Among 
these Scindia, Holkar, the Guicowar, and the Peshwa, 
the nominal head of the confederation, may be mentioned. 

This extensive territory they had gained for themselves 



fllE LEADING iNDlAl? STATES. 231 

by their bravery and superior military talent. At first a 
mere mercenary tribe, hiring themselves to belligei'ent 
princes, they were created a nation by the warrior chief- 
tain Sivajee. The tenitory of Jhansi, and some estates 
of lesser importance granted to the Peshwa by the Rajah 
of Bundelcund, was the humble starting point for that 
extension of tenitory which, in due time, made them a 
po\yer of the first order in the Indian peninsula, and 
secured them a tributary recognition from most of the 
Indian states. 

Of this remarkable people Macaulay eloquently says : — 
'' It was under the reign of Aurungzebe that this wild 
clan of plunderers first descended their mountains; and 
soon after his death every corner of his wide empire 
learned to tremble at the mighty name of the Mahrattas. 
Many fertile viceroyalties were entirely subdued by them. 
Their dominions stretched across the peninsula from sea 
to sea. Mahratta captains reigned at Poonah, at Gwalior, 
in Guzerat, in Berar, and in Tanjore. Nor did they, 
though they had become great sovereigns, therefore cease 
to be freebooters. They still retained the predatory 
habits of their forefathers. Every region which was not 
subject to their rule was wasted by their incursions. 
"Wherever their kettle drums were heard, the peasant 
threw his bag of rice on his shoulder, hid his small 
savings in his gii-dle, and fled with his wife and children 
to the mountains or the jungles, to the milder neigh- 
bourhood of the hysena and the tiger. Many provinces 
redeemed their harvests by the payment of an annual 
ransom. Even the wretched phantom who still bore the 
imperial title stooped to pay this ignominious black-mail. 
The camp-fires of one rapacious leader were seen from 
the walls of the palace of Delhi, Another at the head 
of his innumerable cavalry descended year after year on 
the rice-fields of Bengal, Even the European factors 
trembled for their magazines. Less than a hundred years 
ago, it was thought necessary to fortify Calcutta against 
the horsemen of Berar; and the name of the Mahratta 
ditch still preserves the memory of the danger." At the 



23^ HISTORY OF INDIA. 

time we have ctosen for review, the office of Peshvva was 
hekl by Ballagee Rao. 

To the south of the nizam's dominion, and extending 
beyond the plateau of the Deccan, lay the territory of 
Mysore, an ancient state whose connection with the im- 
perial government was never more than a nominal one. 
The emperor Aurungzebe had invaded the territory and 
placed it under tribute ; but it never was submissive to 
the authority of the Delhi court. Maintaining an inde- 
pendent government, it was ably managed; and but for the 
repeated assaults and exactions of its restless neighbours 
the Mahrattas, would have been among the most thriving 
of the Indian principalities. The Mysorean dominions 
were greatly extended by Hyder Ally, who, at the period 
under consideration, notwithstanding that a legitimate 
sovei'eign occupied its throne, was supreme in this power- 
tal province. 

In addition to the above states — which, until the annex- 
ing and absorbing process of the English was applied to 
Indian territory-— may be regai'ded as the main divisions 
of the peninsula, there lay in the north Rohilcund, already 
mentioned, independent of the court of Delhi, and in- 
habited by a hardy Afghan race, with a chief named 
Shahab-ud-Deen at its head; Rajpootana, or a confedera- 
tion of Eajpoot states, which were nominally tributaxy 
to, but virtually independent of the emperor, and too 
powerful for the effective domination of the Mahratta; 
the country of the Jats, situated to the east of the 
Rajpoot states, and extending thence to Agra. Their 
capital was Bhurtpoor, one of the most powei'ful fortresses 
in India ; and they were at this period governed by a 
famous chieftain named Sooraj Mul; Bundelcund, to 
the south-east of the Bhurtpoor territory, with Rewar. 
Bhopal, upon the eastern boundary of Malwah, and some 
others. To the south were Tanjore, connected, as has 
already been remai'ked, with . the Mahrattas, but owning 
an independent i-ajah of its own — a descendant of a 



THE LEADING IJfDIAN STATES. 233 

bi'ofcher of Sivajee; Cochin, a small and unimportant 
maritime state to the north of Travancoi'e, with a rajah 
tinder the tutelage of the Dutch. These, with the states 
and territories belonging to the vai'ious European nations 
— the English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch — made up 
the entire peninsula. 

The following table of contemporary rulers may be 
found of service in relieving the student of the weai-isome- 
ness of research, and enabling him roughly to discover at 
a glance the hands that directed the governments of tho 
several states during the period of English conquest. 



234 



TABLE OP CONTEMPORARY 



Delhi. 



1719 
1732 
1743 
1748 
1749 



1751 
1754 
175G 
1757 
1759 
17(30 
1761 
1762 
1764 
1765 

1771 
1772 
1773 
1775 
1783 
1786 
1790 
1793 
1705 
1790 

1797 
1793 
1801 
1803 
1805 

1807 
1813 
1821 
1828 
1829 
1836 
1842 
1844 
1848 
1850 
1802 
1864 
1809 
1873 



Mahomed Shah, 
Ahmed Shah, 



Siifdur ■) iiug. 



[lah. 
Shujah-nd-Dow- 



Asof-iid-Dowlu 



Vizier Ally. 
Suadut AUj'. 



The Deccan. 



Snraj-ud-Dowlah. 
Meer Jaffler (jirsl). 



Meer Jaffier {second). 

Niijm-ud-Dowlah. 

Svf-ud-Dowlab. 



Azum-ud -Dow'ali. 



Mozuft'iir Jung. 

:: :: { 



iNizam Ally. 



SikuiKlev Jah. 



Na!!ii-u<l-Dowlah 



SOVEEEIGNS AND GOVERNOPwS. 



Carnatic. 


The 5IAHRATTAS 

(Peshwas). 


Mysore. 


Governors General. 


Date. 
1710 






.. 1 




Dost Ally Khan. 








ITii 


Auwur-ud-Deei). 








1743 
174S 


Chundah Sahib. 


.. 


.. 




17-1'J 


Mahomet Ally, or 


c 








Wallah Jah. 


3IaIidoo Rao. 


;: :: 

Hy(ier Ally. 


Lord Clive. 


1751 
1754 
1756 
1757 
1759 
1760 
1761 
1762 
1764 
1765 




A'anain Kao 


.. J 


Warren Hastings. 


1771 
177C 




Eughoba 


Tippoo t5aiiib. 


Marquis Oornwallis. 


1775 
17S3 
17S6 




Mahdoo llao. 




Sir John Shore. 


1790 
1793 


Ooratlnt-ul-Oiiu-ah 


Chinlnnjee.' 
Baiee Eao. 






1795 
1796 

1797 






.. ..{ 


liOrd jMoriiiiigtoii, or 


1798 
1801 
1803 






Marquis Wellesley. 
















Maiquis Connvallis. 


1805 








Sir George Barlow. 










Lord Minto. 


1807 






( 


Earl of Moira, or 


1S13 






■■\ 


Marquis Hastings. 








Lord Amherst. 


1821 








Lord W. Bentinck. 


182S 
1829 








Lord Auckland. 


1836 








Lord Ellenborough. 


1842 




.. 




SirH. Hardinge. 


1844 








Lord Dalhousie. 


1848 








Lord Canning. „'; 


1856 








Lord Elgin. :. 


1862 








Lord Lawrence, t 


1864 








Lord Mayo. 


1869 








Lord Northbrook. 


1873 



INDEX. 



ACHMUTY, Sir S., 142. 

Adam, Mr., 153. 

Artam's Bridge, 20, 

Adam's Peak, 20. 

Agaew, Mr., 179. 

Agra, 23, 24, 195, 203, 221. 

Ahmedabad, 108. 

Ahmednugger, 132, 221. 

Ahmed Shah, 55, 78, 228, 2:0. 

Ahwaz, 189. 

A j mere, 223. 

Akbar Khan, 52, 229. 

Akbar of Cabul, 108, 169, 171. 

Albuquerque, Alfonso, 58. 

Alexander the Great, 40. 

Alipore, 207. 

Aliverdi Khan, 74, 78. 

Aliwal, 25, 177. 

Allahabad, 23, 101, 195, 198, 205, 22 

Alla-ud-Deen, 50. 

Allumbagh, 204, 205. 

Altumish, 50. 

Alumgeer, 80. 

Alvarez Cabral, 57. 

Amboyiia, 142. 

Ameer Khan, 141, 144, 146, 149. 

Ameer.s of Scinde, 172, 224. 

Amherst, Lord, 153, 155, 156. 

Amritsur, 141. 

Anderson, Lieutenant, 179. 

Auwur-ud-Deen, 07. 

Appa Sahib, 145, 148, 149. 

Ara-velli Mountains, 10. 

Arcot, 69, 85, 111, 230. 

Argaom, 135. 

Arikera, 121. 

Arracan, 25, 155, 223 

Aryans, the, 31. 

Assam, 153, 155, 223. 

Assaye, 132. 

Asof-ud-Dowlah, 103, 116. 

Auckland, Lord, 164, 165, 170. 

Aurungabad, 28, 230. 

Aurangzebe, 53, 02, 231. 

Ava, 153. 

Awah, 205. 

Babeu, 51. 
Bagrutty, 153. 
Bahar, 219, 229. 
Bajee Rao, 131, 146. 
Banda, 142. 
Bangalore, 121. 
Bappo Gokla, 147. 
Barlow, Sir G., 138, 139, 142, 
Barnai'd, Sir H., 194, 200. 
Barrackpore, 193. 
Barwell, Mr., 103. 
Basalat Jung, 82, 94, 110. 



Bassein, 107, 109, 1S3. 

Batavia, 142. 

Bay ley, Mr., 156. 

Begum Cotee, 206. 

Begum of Oude, 207. 

Begums, The, 103, 115. 

Bejapore, 22, 27, 230. 

Benares, 23, 24, 103, 115, 195, 199. 

Bengal, 22, 219, 229. 

Bentinck, Mr., 129, 156, 157, 161, 162. 

Berar, 28, 185, 221, 225, 230. 

Berhampore, 193. 

Bhawulpore, 29. 

Bheels, The, 34, 213. 

Bhurtpore, 136, 156, 

Bhopal, 28, 232. 

Bhotan, 213. 

Bithoor, 196, 198. 

Black Hole, The, 75. 

Bolaii Pass, The, 166. 170. 

Bombay, 22, 61, 217. 

Brahm, 36, 37, 

Brahma, 36. 

Brahmins, 39, 192. 

Brahminical JPoems, The, 42. 

BrowB, General, 149. 

Buddhism, 40. 

Budlee Serai, 200. 

Bundelcund, 29, 140, 221, 231, 239. 

Bura Penu, 40. 

Burmah, 25. 

BuiTaese, The, 153. 

Burnes, Lieutenant, 164, 165, lOS, 

Bushire, 188, 189. 

Bussy, 68, 73, 84, 111, 229.. 

Buxar, 89, 

Cabul, 164. 

Cachar, 224. 

Calcutta, 11, 198, 218. 

Calliaud, Captain, 81, 86. 

Cambay, 27. 

Campbell, Sir A., 155. 

Campbell, Sir C, 201, 204, 205, 203. 

Canara, 18. 

Canning, 187, 189, 211, 212. 

Carica,! 63 

Cai'Dac,' Major, 86, 91, 111, 220. 

Camatic, 81, 128, 219, 230. 

Cashmere, 12, 29, 177. 

Cawn'pore, 24, 195, 196, 197, 199, 205. 
Central Provinces, 24. 
Ceylon, 20, 26, 222. 
Chandernagore, 22, 63, 77. 
Chand Koowur, 175. 
Cheetoo, 145, 148, 149. 
Cheyte Singh, 103, 114. 
Chillianwallah, 181. 



237 



Chinhut, 107. 

Chinsura, 84. 

Christiaus, The, 41, 

Chunar, 116. 

Chimdah Sahib, 66, 69, 230. 

Chundoo Lall, 185. 

Chutter Singh, ISO. 

Ciroars, The, 23. 91, 96, 220, 222. 

Clive, 6S, 72, 76, 77, 80, S3, 86, 90, 92. 

218, 225. 
Cochin, 27, 222, 232. 
Colombo, 26, 41. 
Combermere, Viscount, 156. 
Concan, IS. 
Conflans, M., 82, 
Coorg, 159. 

Coote, Sir E., 85, 111, 218. 
Corah, 101, 220. 
Coruelis, 142 
Cornwallis, Lord, 118, 120, 121, 122 

123, 13S. 
Coromandel, 19. 
Cossimbazzav, 216 
Cuddalore, 110. 
Cutch, 26, 27. 
Cuttack, 221. 

Dalhousie, Lord, 179, 183, 185, 187 

225. 
Dara, 53. 

Darius Hystaspes, 45. 
Deccan, The, 17, 22, 221, 229. 
Deeg, 136. 

De Grand, Captain, 207. 
Delhi, 25, 134, 136, 19?, 204, 221, 277, 

278. 
Delhi Slave Kings, 50. 
Devicotta, 66. 
Dewany, 100. 
Dhwalagiri, 12. 
Dhondia, 130. 
Dhondoo Punt, 196. 
Dhuleep Singh, 177. 
Diaz, Bartholomew, 57. 
Dilliooshee Palace, The, 206. 
Donabew, 155. 
Dost Mahomed, 165. 
Douab, The, 15. 
Dowlatabad, 28, 82. 
Dubba, 173. 
Dupleix, 64, 70, 219. 

East India Company, 60, 113. 
Edwardes, Lieutenant, 180. 
Elgin, Lord, 212. 
EUenborough, Lord, 170, 174. 
Elphinstone, General, 16S. 
Elphinstone, Mr., 147, 150. 

Pane, General, 165. 
Ferozepore, 194, 201. 
Ferozeshah, 25, 17(?, 



Feroze, Prince, 207. 

Forde, Colonel, 12. 

Fort St. David, 01, 64. 81, 216 

Fort St. George, 216. 

French Possessions, 30. 

Fulta, 84. 

Furnawees, Nana, lOS, 121, 124, 131. 

Futtighur, 195, 197, 205. 

~ ■ ■ 25. 110. 



Ganges, Plain of, 14. 

Gardner, Colonel, 144. 

Garrons, The, 33. 

Gaurian Dynasty, The, 50. 

Gawilghur, 135. 

Ghatgay, 130, 137. 

Ghauts, The, 18. 

Ghazy Beg, 50. 

Ghazy-ud-Deen, 71. 

Gheria, 72. 

Gholab Singh, 177. 

Ghora Gotee, 12. 

Ghoorkas, 143, 144. 

Ghufoor Khan, 148. 

Ghuznee, 166, 171. 

Ghuznevy Dynasty, The, 49. 

Gilbert, General, 176, 1S2. 

Gillespie, Colonel, 139, 143, 144. 

Goa, 58. 

Goddard, General, 108. 

Godeheu, M., 70, 

Godwin, General, 184. 

Goojerat, 25, 181, 225. 

Golconda, 28. 

Gotama Buddha, 39. 

Gough, Sir H., 175, 181, 225. 

Grant, Sir H., 205. 

Greathead, Colonel, 203. 

Guicowar, The, 230. 

Gandwayua, 24, 28. 

Gunga Dhow, 147. 

Guntoor, 97. 

Guzerat, 27, 221, 230. 

Gwalior, 28, 108, 159. 

Gwalior, Rajah of, 172. 

Hardinge, Sir H., 177. 

Harris, General. 

Hartley, Colonel, 109. 

Hastings, MarcLuis of, 143, 145, 151, 

152, 153. 
Hastings, Warren, 100, 102, 103, 113. 

114, 116. 
Herat, 188, 189. 
Highlands of Central India, 16. 
Hill, Major, 184. 
Himalayan Region, The, 11. 
Hindus, The, 31. 
Hinduism, 35. 
Hislop, Sir J., 146, 148. 
Hodson, Lieutenant, 202. 
Holkar, 107, 124, 131, 136, 144. 148, 

220, 280, 



238 



Holt, General, 160. 

Holwell, Mr., 86, ST. 

Hoosliley, 61, 21i). 

Hoomayoon, 52. 

Hyderabad, 23, 28, 150, \U, 220. 

Hyder Ally, 95, 93, 100, 110, 112, 232 

iTirAMBARAKHA, 206. 

Indore, 20. 

Indus, Plain of the, 16. 

lufauticide. 

Jains, The, 40. 
Janoojee Bhoslay, 04. 
Jats, The, 232. 
Java, 142. 
Jawiid, 149. 
Jehangier, Shah, 52. 
Jehan, Shah, 53. 
Jellalabad, 169. 
Jeswunt Rao Bhow, 140. 
Jeypore, 28. 
Jhansi, 23, 185, 195 
Jheluni, 190. 
Jubbulpore, 102. 
Jugdlspore, 207. 
Julhmda, 190. 
Jullundar Douab, 1V7. 224, 
Juggernaut, Car of, 3S. 
.Tulal-ud-Deen, 50. 
Jung Bahadur, 205. 

Kaiser Bagh, The, 206 
Kallee Muddee, 205. 
Kalpee, 207. 
Kandahar, 165, 166. 
Kaiideish, 22, 221, 222, 230. 
Kandy, 222. 
Karoon, 180. 
Katmandoo, 144. 
Kavannagh. 204, 208. 
Keane, Sir J., 166. 
Keikobad, 50. 
Kerr, General, 146. 
Khan Bahadur, 206. 
Khau Mirza, ISO. 
Khilghee Dynaisty, The, 50. 
Kholus, The, 34 
Kooshab, 189. 
Khonds, The, 34, 40. 
Khurdlah, 125. 
Khyber Pass, The, 160, 170. 
Kimoor Mountains, The, IS. 
Kishen Das 75. 
Kistna, The, 17. 
Knox, Captain, SO. 
Koer Singh, 206, 207. 
Kojuk Pass, The, 106. 
Kolapore, 27. 
Koles, The, 34, 158. 
Korewahs, 34. 
Korygaom, I47. 



Krishna, 37. 
Kshattryas, 30. 
Kumaou, 14, 222. 
Kunchiniunga, 14. 
Kurds, Tlie, 213. 
Kureein Khan, 145, 140. 
Kusru Mulik, 49. 
Kuttaok Mehals, The, 30 
Kuttub-ud-Doeu, 50, 228. 

Labouedonnais, M., 64, 217. 
Lahore, 24, 177, 17S, 100. 
Lake, General, 134. 136. 
Lall, Singh, 175, 176, 17S. 
Lally. M., 81, S4. 
Lambert, Captain, 183. 
Lancaster, Captain, GO. 
Laswarree, 135 
Law, Mr., 08. 
Lawrence, Major, 67, 70. 
Lawrence, Sir J., 212, 213. 
Lawrence, Sir H., 107, 203 
Layard, Sir E., 207. 
Lepchas, The, 33. 
Leslie, Colonel, 107. 
Littler, Sir J., 176. 
Loodiana, 25, 177. 
Loshais, The, 33. 
Lucknow, 25, 197, 109, 204. 
Lukshmere Bye, 20S. 

Macnaughten, Mr., 100. 

Macpherson, Mr., 116. 

Madras, 23, 81, 216. 

Madura, 81. 

Maha Bundula, 153 

Maharajpoor, 172. 

Mahdoo Rao, 106. 

Mahe, 110. ,' 

Mahmoud, 48. 

Mahomed Ally, 67, 71, 232. 

Mahomed Shah, 54. 

Mahomet Reza Khan, 104 

Mahrattas, 53, 106, 109, 136, 13S, 145, 

146, 150. 
Mahratta Ditch, The, 75, 218, 231. 
Malabar, 18, ,121, 221. 
Malacca, 25. 

Malcolm, Sir J., 148, 149. 
Malwar, 16, 207, 230. 
Manaar, Gulf of, 20. 
Mangalore, 113. 
Martaban, 25, 154, 183. 
Martiniese, The, 206. 
Masulipatam, 61, 67, 83. 
Matthews, General, 113. 
Mayo, Lord, 214. 
Maxwell, Lieut. -Colonel, 133. 
Meanee, 173. 
Jleanmeer, 104. 
Jledows, Gener.al, 121. 
Meer Allum, 126, 



239 



Meer Cossim, 86, 87, 89. 

Meer Jaffier, 78, 79, 83, 87, 89, 229. 

Meer Muhilun, 79. 

Meerun, 86, 87. 

Meerut, 23, 193, 221. 

Megastheues, 47. 

Mehiilpore, 148. 

Mejum-iid-DowIah, 220. 

Menu, Code of, 35. 

Mergui, 25. 

Metcalfe, Mr., 141, 157, 103. 

Minto, Lord, 139, 142. 

aiitchel. Colonel, 193. 

Modud, 49. 

Moguls, 51, 227. 

!A[obammedans, 40. 

Slohammed Gaury, 40, 225. 

aiohammerah, 189. 

Moira, Earl of, 143. 

Moodajee Bhoslay, 109 

Moodkee, 25. 

Moolraj, 179, 180, 

Monson, Colonel, 136. 

Moorsliedabad, 22, 79. 

Moosee Bagli, 206. 

Morud, 53. 

Mornington, 24, 179, ISO, ISl. 

Moulmein, 25. 

Moidrie of Fyzabad, The, 207, 20S. 

Mozufiur Jung, 66. 

JIuazzim 54, 

Mubarick, 50. 

Muir, Colonel, 109. 

Mulgulwar, 199. 

Mundane Egg, The, 36. 

Mundiscor, 205. 

Munro, Sir PI., 89, 111. 

Mutcbie Bhowan, The, 197, 20G 

Muttra, 24, 195. 

Mysore, 27, 223, 224, 231. 

Nabik Shah, 54. 

Nagpore, 24, 185, 225. 

Nana Sahib, 196, 205, 207, 208. 

Nanjore, 110. 

Napier, Sir C, 173, 182, 183, 224. 

Narrak, 41. 

Nazir Jung, 66, 229. 

Neale, General, 19S, 199, 200. 

Nearchus, 47. 

Neem.uch, 195, 205. 

Neilgherries, The, 19. 

Nepaul, 30, 143. 

Nicholson, Brigadier, 201. 

Nizam AUy, 82, 94, 90, 109. 

Nizam-ul-Mulk, 54, 66, 229. 

Northbrook, Lord, 214. 

North-west Provinces, The, 23. 

Nott, General, 170. 

Nujuna-ud-Dowlah, 90 

Nuncomar, 104, 105. 

Nunjeras, 71. 



Nuaseerabad, 193. 

OcHTERLOKY, General, 143, 146, 156. 
Omichund, 78, 80. 
Oosoor, 97. 
Orissa, 213, 219, 229. 
Oude, 15, 25, 128, 185, 192, 195, 225, 228. 
Ousely, SirG., 101,188. 
Outram, Sir J., 173, 189, 203, 205, 203, 
211. 

Paget, Sir E., 154. 

Palk's Straits, 20. 

Palmer and Co., 152, 184. 

Paniput, 25, 228. 

Parsees, The, 41. 

Patan Dynasty, The, 50. 

Pedrotallagalla Hill, 20. 

Pegu, 25, 183, 223. 

Penang, 25. 

Perron, M., 134.' 

Persia, 188. 

Peshawur, 48, 194, 199. 

Pesliwa, 24, 25, 165, 222, 230. 

Pindarees, Tlie, 141, 144, 14S, 150. 

Plassy, 78, 220. 

Pooocke, Admiral, 34. 

Pollock, General, 169, 170, 171. 

Poudicherry, 30, 63, 65, 85. 

Poonah, 23, 32, 107, 222. 

Popham, Colonel, 108. 

Portuguese Possessions, The, 30. 

Porus, 46. 

Pottinger, Mr., 165, 188. 

Primitive Tribes, The, 33. 

Prome, 28, 183. 

Punjaub, The, 16, 24, 140, 175, 177, 225. 

229. 
Pureshram Bhow, 131. 
Purgunnahs, The, 218 

Rajamundry, 82. 

Rajpootana, 29, 221, 231. 

Rama, 38. 

Rameseram Islands, 20. 

Ram Narrain, 8S. 

Ramuugger, 180. 

Rangoon, 25, 154, 183. 

Reman Shah, 127. 

Rennie, Commodore, 189. 

Rewar, 232. 

Roe, Sir T., 52. 

Rohilcund, 15, 23, 29, 101, 229, 232. 

Rohillas, 101. 

Rose, Sir H., 205, 207, 208, 212. 

Royal, Captain, 137. 

Rughoba, 106, 108, 109. 

Rughojee, Bhoslay, 132, 135, 221, 22.5. 

Runjeet, Singh, 138, 140, 144, 159, 1U5. 

Runjoor Singh, 174, 177. 

Ruzeea, Sultana, 50. 

Ryots, The, 123. 



240 



XXDEX. 



Salabat Jung, 68, 73, S3, 229. 

Salbye, 199. 

Sale, General, 169, 171, 170. 

Salim, 221. 

Salkeld, 201, 20S. 

Salsette, 106, 108. 

Sangur, 24, 205, 222. 

Santals, The, 84, 212. 

Sattara, 22, 27, 182, 222, 224. 

Savanoor, 73. 

Scinde, 224. . 

Scindia, 107, 124, 131, 144, 172, 207, 

221, 223, 230. 
Scylax, 45. 
Sealcote, 199. 
Seetatmldee, 148. 
- Seleucus, 47. 
Semiramis, 45. *' 
Seringapatam, 23, 27, 111, 121, 127, 

142, 223. 
Sesostris, 44. 
Severndioog, 72. 

Shah Allum, 54, SO, SS, 220, 228. 
Shah Jehangier, 52, 216. 
Shah Suja, 141, 165, 167, 171. 
Sheer Ally, 180. 
Sheer Shah Soor, 52. 
Sheer Singh, ISO, 181, 182. 
Shiva, 37. 
Shore, Sir J., 124. 
Sikhs, The, 41, 140, 174, 176, 179, 209, 

Sikh States, 29, 224. 

Sikundur Bagh, The, 204. 

Sikuudur Jah, 135 

Sinde, 16, 22. 

Singapore, 25. 

Sirjee Anjengaom, 135. 

Si tanas. The, 212. 

Sivajee, 53, 74, 224, 230. 

Smith, Colonel, 96, 97 

Smith, Sir H., 177. 

Sobraon, 25, 177, 224. 

Soomoonang, 14. 

Soudras, 39. 

Southern India, 19. 

Staunton, Captain, 147. 

Stevenson, Colonel, 134, 135. 

Strabobates, 45. 

Straits Settlements, 25. 

Stuart, General, 113, 127, 205. 

Sufdur Jung, 228, 229. 

Sujah-ud-Dowlah, 102, 229. 

Sunderbunds, 15. 

Siiraj-ud-Dowlah, 75, 77, 218, 229. 

Surat, 22, 61, 216, 221, 

Sutlej, 175. 

Suttee, The, 161, 

Tamerlane, 51. 



Tanjore, 221, 230, 232. 

Tantia Topee, 205, 207. 

Tavoy, 223. 

Taxiles, 46. 

Teetoo Meer, 15S. 

Teignmouth, Lord, 125. 

Tej Singh, 175. 

Teuasserim, 25, 28, 154, 223. 

Thomas, Brigadier, 203. 

Thuggee, The, 161. 

Thugs, The. 101. 

Tipperah, 30. 

Tippoo Sahib, 112, 120, 126, 221, 230. 

Tirhoot, 15. 

Toghluck D^niasty, The, 50. 

Toolajee Angria. 

Toolsee Bye, 148. 

Torritorio, Cape, 20. , 

Tranquebar, 30. 

Travancore, 222. 

Trichinopoly, 23. 

Trimbuckjee Dainglia, 146, 149. 

Trimurti, 36, 38. 

Trincomalee, 26, 84, 93. 

Ujiballa, 175, 193, 104. 

Vaisiiyas, The, 39. 
Valoo Tumbee. 142. 
Vansittart, Mr., 86, S9. 
Vasco de Gama, 57. 
Vedras, The, 35. 
Vellore, 139. 
Vieramaditya, 47. 
Vindhya Hills, 18. 
Vishnu, 37. 

Wagheens, The, 24. 
Waghurs, The, 213. 
Wahabees, The, 212. 
Wandiwash, 81, 85, 111. 
Wasil Mahmoud, 149. 
Watson, Admiral, 76. 
Wellesley, General, 132. 
AVellesley, Marquis, 128, 137, 219. 
AVelleslev Province, 25. 
Wheeler, Sir H., 106. 
Whish, General, 181. 
Willoughby, Lieutenant, 193. 
Wilson, Mr., 212. 
Wood, Colonel, 97. 
Wood, General, 144. 
Wurgaom, lOS. 
Wyndham, 205. 

Yandaboo, 155, 223. 

Zemindars. The, 122. 
Zenghis Khan, 50. 
Zoroaster, 41. 



WILLIAM COLLIKS AND COJIPANY, PEINTEKS, GLASGOW, 



1519-164S.] FERDINAND III, 241 

Elector of Saxony, in a treaty at Prague, was reconciled 
to the Emperor; that the junction of the imperial and 
Saxon troops against the Swedes and the Protestant 
states of the empire gave a preponderance to the cause, 
which no efforts of the reformed league, aided by the 
intrigues of England, HoHand, and France, was able to 
counteract; that all the members, except the Landgrave 
of Hesse-Cassel, convinced of the fruitlessness of resist- 
ance, adhered, one by one, to the pacification of Prague 
— thus engaging to expel the Swedes, to whom they were 
indebted for their restoration to their civil privileges; 
and that when Ferdinand died in 1637, two months after 
witnessing the election and coronation of his son as King 
of the Romans, he had the satisfaction to know that none 
but foreigners — the Swedes and their allies the French 
— were seriously intent on perpetuating the troubles of 
the realm. 

Character of Ferdinand II. — Of Ferdinand II. it 
need only be said that, if he was a cruel bigot ; if he 
was sometimes perfidious — witness his connivance at the 
assassination of Wallenstein — he was generally swayed 
by conscientious motives, was regular in his habits, pure 
in his moi'als, constant in adversity, persevering in every 
purpose, comprehensive in his views, just, liberal, and, 
whenever his religious prejudices were not concerned, 
merciful. Had he been less subservient to mistaken 
notions of religious duty, he would have been every way 
worthy of the throne, for his was an imperial mind. 

Ferdinand III. (1636-1648), King of Bohemia and of 
Hungary succeeded, in virtue of his election as King of 
the Romans, to the imperial throne without opposition. 
Opportunities of pacification neglected, the war of thii'ty 
years was no continiious strife. There were, as has been 
seen throughout its course, breaks, in which a termination 
of hostilities seemed to be unavoidable or expedient, from 
the relative positions, at different periods, of the different 
parties. But these were neglected or despised ; nor was 
the desired ratification of peace published until eight years 
had been expended in disciissions, wearisome for their 



242 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

length, complicated from tlie number of parties engaged, 
teeming with matters of petty and contemptible etiquette, 
with instances of jealousy and rapacity, of treacheiy and 
imbecility. The bloody scenes which have been before 
described were repeated, and, in some cases, on the same 
fields. New leaders arose to cany on with the same 
tactics the hostilities bequeathed them by their prede- 
cessors, whom excess, or the fortune of war, or suspicious 
accident, had removed from their command. 

Ferdinand III. found the Swedes and French still in 
possession of several important cities of Saxony, and pre- 
paring for a vigorous campaign. The same line of policy 
was pursued, and the war was accordingly renewed with 
fury. The Duke of Weimar laid siege to Rainfeld ; an 
imperial army advanced to its relief, and was totally 
defeated by the duke; the town surrendered, as did soon 
after Brissac, and other places (1638). 

While Weimar trivimphed on the Rhine, Banier was 
equally successful in Pomerania; he reduced several 
towns, and cut to pieces some of the imperial troops. 

In the beginning of the next campaign, the Duke and 
Banier took measures for penetrating into the heart of 
the Austrian dominions. Banier crossed the Elbe, beat 
everything that opposed him, entered Saxony, and totally 
defeated the Saxon army at Chemnitz. He invaded 
Bohemia, laid the country under contribution, fell on 
the imperialists under General Hofskirk at Brandeiz, 
and pursued them to the walls of Prague. He then 
repassed the Elbe, defeated the imperialists at Glatz, and 
drove the Saxons three times from their camp at Tirn. 

But the hopes of the Swedes were almost blighted by 
the loss of the Duke of Saxe -Weimar, who died at this 
time, in his thirty-sixth year, by poison, as was strongly 
suspected. After a good deal of contest for his army, it 
was finally taken into the pay of the King of France, who 
thus became master of a great part of Alsatia and Brisgau. 
Under the command of the Duke of Longueville it joined 
Banier at Erfurt; but the Swede found his genius cramped 
by their px-esence, and was no longer able to execute his 



1519-1648.] DEATH OP BANIER. 243 

bold and sudden projects. Driven from Bohemia by the 
imperialists under the gallant Archduke Leopold, Picco- 
lomini and Hatfeld, Banier laid waste Thuringia in the 
most appalling manner. Effecting a junction with the 
French army under Marshal Guebriant at Neustadt, they 
crossed the Danube on the ice, took 1500 of the imperial 
horse, and appeared before Ratisbon, where a Diet was 
then assembled. The dismay in the city was extreme. 
Ferdinand alone was unmoved by the general panic; and 
his fii-mness and feelings of shame prevented the deputies 
from seeking safety in flight. A sudden thaw saved 
Ratisbon, and Banier retreated, after throwing five 
hundred shots into the town, an insult that enraged 
Ferdinand beyond measure. 

Retreat and Death of Banier. — After the attempt on 
Batisbon, the French and Swedes separated. Banier 
marched through Bohemia, followed by Piccolomini and 
Gleen. He conducted his retreat in a most masterly 
manner to Zickau, where he was again joined by Guebriant, 
and they prepared to make head against the imperialists. 
But this daring leader died at Halberstadt in May, in 
the forty-fourth year of his age, Uncourteous, arrogant, 
cruel, and debauched, he owed his early death to his 
excesses, and not to the effects of poison, as was supposed 
in his case, as in that of the Du.ke of Weimar. His 
talents as a commander were of a very high order. Six 
hundred standards,'^the trophies of his successes, were 
carried to Stockholm; and 80,000 of the enemy are said 
to have fallen in the various operations in which he 
commanded. 

The remainder of the war may be briefly told. Though 
ever and anon renewed with fury, nothing decisive for 
either party was the result. If to-day one prince was 
seduced from his allegiance to the head of the state, on 
the next the paternal admonitions of the Emperor recalled 
him from his wanderings. If victory was gained one day 
by the combined Swedes and French, assisted by the open 
or secret wishes of some Protestant states, it was neutral- 
ised on another by an e(jually signal advantage to the 



244 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VI. 

imperial troops. But tliis harassing warfare was severely 
felt by Germany. The excesses committed on every side 
by restless and ferocious bodies of foreigners, and even 
by natives, destroyed all social security, and made even 
humble individuals tremble for their persons no less than 
their stibstance. The whole people began to perceive, 
that if foreign interests gained by the continuance of 
the war, by the weakening of the empire and its head, 
Germany was rapidly hastening to internal ruin — probably 
to subjugation by France and Sweden. IsTot merely the 
greatness, the existence of the empire was in jeopardy; 
and this conviction spread widely and deeply among the 
princes and states. Such as had been most corrupted by 
the gold of France, or the promises of Sweden, began to 
join the demand for peace; and for this purpose negotia- 
tions wei'e opened; though from the vicissitudes of the 
Avai% from the consequent elation of one party and the 
depression of the other, years elapsed before they were 
brought to a conclusion. 

At length, in 1648, the French and Swedes were every- 
where successful; the Elector of Bavaria and other piinces 
were forced to make separate peaces with them; the 
Emperor was alone exposed to them; and though the 
Elector of Bavaria had again joiued him, the victory of 
Zummerhausen, gained by Turenne and Yrangel, and the 
invasion of Bavaria and Bohemia, compelled him to think 
at last seriously of peace. 

The Treaty of Westphalia (1648).— It was as neces- 
sary to reconcile, as it was to disarm, the French and 
Swedes ; otherwise the same causes of disunion would 
eternally operate and infallibly tei'minate in the destruc- 
tion of the confederate body — of the great work which 
Charlemagne had founded, which ages had cemented, and 
of which the preservation was demanded by the voice of 
Europe no less than by that of the empire. After six 
years had elapsed from the opening of the preliminaries, 
the treaty of Osnaburg, between the Emperor and the 
Protestant states, was agreed on in August 1648; that 
of Miinstex*, between the Emperor, France, and her allies. 



1519-1648.] THE TREATY OP WESTPHALIA. 245 

the following month. ; and both were duly signed at 
Miinster on the same day (October 24). This pacification, 
known as the Peace of Westphalia, from the circumstance 
of both cities being contained in that province, will be 
memorable through all time, both from its having served 
as the foundation of the international law of Europe, of 
the policy generally adopted by each state, and from its 
having correctly defined the claims of Protestants and 
Roman Catholics, the bounds of the imperial, the elec- 
toral, the aristocratical, and the municipal powers. It 
is, in the strictest sense, the key of modern history. 

As the Pope seemed to be included in the peace as an 
ally of the Emperor, under the expression '^ the Princes 
and Republics of Italy," the Nuncio Chigi, immediately 
after the completion of the treaty, entered a pi-otest against 
it, and Pope Innocent X, soon after published a bull 
(November 26), declaring the treaties of Miinster and 
Osnabriick null and void. But his thunders had ceased 
to terrify even those who remained in the ancient com- 
munion, and not a sword was drawn to support him. The 
remainder of Ferdinand's reign passed in tranquillity; nor 
does it contain any stiiking event except such as we have 
anticipated in the preceding pages. He caused his son 
to be elected King of the Romans, under the title of 
Eerdinand IV.; but the young prince, already King of 
Bohemia and Hungary, preceded him to the tomb, and 
left the question of the succession to be decided by a Diet. 
Eerdinand III. died in 1657, leaving behind him a char- 
acter for wisdom and moderation unequalled perhaps by 
any monarch of his age. 



246 



HISTORY OF GERMANY. 



[period VI. 



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SEVENTH PERIOD. 

FROM THE PEACE OP WESTPHALIA TO THE FRENCH 
REVOLUTION.— (1648-1789). 

Death of Ferdinand 11. (1637).— The aged Ferdinand 
did not live to see the close of that terrible war the com- 
mencement of his reign ushered in for the extermination 
of Protestantism, the only way to attain which end, as 
Scioppius, in his " Alarm-drum of the Holy War " freely 
declared, was "to wade to it through blood." Few 
sovereigns have left behind them a more odious name. 
Almost the last act of a life which had been one long 
display of ferocious cruelty, was to order the drowning of 
some insurgents in Carinthia, and the infliction of horrible 
tortures on the peasants of Upper Austria. Practically 
following out the teaching of the Jesuits, heretics were 
to be exterminated, not because their doctrines were 
damnable, but because those who presumed to differ from 
their sovereign were in his eyes guilty of rebellion. 
Thus, under the mask of religious zeal, more than ten 
millions of hiiman beings were sacrificed to this unjust 
and cruel policy. 

Before the Emperor himself disappeared from the great 
struggle, he had the satisfaction of seeing his son Ferdi- 
nand unanimously acknowledged as his successor by the 
Diet of Ratisbon, and who, towards the end of the year, 
succeeded to the imperial throne. The year in which 
the old Emperor died, a frightful famine was added to 
the other horrors of war. So ghastly was this visitation 
that men, to save their lives, disinterred and devoured 
the bodies of their fellow-creatures, and even hunted 
down human beings that they might feed on their flesh. 



MS illSTOKY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 

The effect of this unnatural and loathsome diet was a 
pestilence, which -swej^t away the soldiery as well as the 
people by thousands. In Pomerania, hundreds destroyed 
themselves, as unable to endure the pangs of hunger. On 
the island of Rilgen many poor creatures were found dead 
with their mouths full of grass, and in some districts 
attempts were made to knead earth into bread. Through- 
out Germany the licence of war and the misery consequent 
on famine and pestilence had so utterly destroyed the 
morality which was once the j)ride and boast of this land, 
that the people, a few years before the most simple and 
kind-hearted in Europe, now vied with the foreign mer- 
cenaries who infested their country in setting at nought 
the laws of God as well as man.* 

To understand clearly the march of events at this 
critical juncture, it will be necessary to revert briefly to 
the closing years of the war. Already, during 1636, the 
cry of anguish from Germany " lying in the dust " had 
gone up from so m?^ny suffering thousands; but still the 
war went on ruthlessly for twelve years longer, and the 
Protestant cause was for a second time deprived of its 
head by the death of Bernard of Saxe-Weimer (July, 
1639). After his death the Generals Banier, Torstenson, 
and Wrangel succeeded each other in command of the 
Protestant army, and the impeiial General Gallas was 
replaced by a renegade Calvinist Melander von Holzapfel. 
The last event of this long and disastrous war was the 
taking of Prague by the Swedish general, Konigsmark, 
And though, on the 24:th of Oct. 1648, articles of peace 
were signed at Miinster and Osnabriick in Westphalia, 
nearly six years elapsed before the Diet even met to 
arrange the dubious or oj)en points of the two-fold treaty. 
A treaty comprising such concessions, embracing such 
great and contradictoiy interests, trenching on so many 
deep-rooted prejudices and established regulations, natur- 
ally met with almost innumerable obstacles in the exe- 
cution. =" ' 

Of this treaty only the principal conditions can be 
* Schiller, 30 Jahriger Kriecj. 



1648-1789.] DEATH OP FERDINAND II. ^iO 

given. The objects of tlie peace may be divided into two 
heads: the settlement of the affairs of the empire, and 
the satisfaction of the two crowns of France and Sweden, 
With regard to Germany, a general amnesty was granted; 
and all princes and persons were, with some exceptions 
as to the immediate subjects of the house of Austria, 
restored to theii' rights, possessions, and dignities. The 
question of the Palatinate, one of the chief objects of the 
war, was settled by a compromise. The Duke of Bavaria 
was allowed to retain the Upper Palatinate, with the 
electoral dignity and rights; while the Lower Palatinate, 
or that of the Rhine, was restored to the eldest son of 
the unfortunate Frederick V., son-in-law of James I. of 
England, and an eighth electorate erected in his favour. 
On the extinction either of the Bavarian or the Palatine 
line, however, both electorates were again to be merged 
into one. 

Thus the policy of France and Sweden was entirely 
successful. These countries, besides raising up a counter- 
poise to the power of the Emperor in Germany itself, 
had succeeded in aggrandising themselves at the expense 
of the empire. Sweden, indeed, in the course of a few 
years was to lose her acquisitions; but France had at last 
permanently, it seemed, seated herself on the Rhine; the 
House of Austria lost the preponderance it had enjoyed 
since the time of Charles V., which was now to be trans- 
ferred to her rival, and, during the ensuing period, we 
shall have to contemplate France as the leading European 
power; a post which she mainly owed to the genius and 
policy of Richelieu. With the Peace of Westphalia 
begins a new era in the policy and public law of Europe. 

However little this memorable treaty differed from 
similar arrangements of the time in procuring a long 
cessation from war, it had this distinguishing character- 
istic, that it served in after time for the basis of the 
future policy of Europe.* No other peace is so con- 
stantly referred to, even if it be true that no other peace 
is so often broken. It provisions were not, indeed, all 
'^ Heeren's Manual, Vol. I., p, 162. 



250 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 

practicable, and many were from time to time evaded or 
disregarded; but tbe principles themselves seem to have 
taken root in the Germanic constitution, and ultimately 
to have prevailed both over neglect and opposition. 
France, occupied since the peace with domestic affairs, 
omitted her usual interference; and Sweden, now under 
the fantastic rule of the eccentric Christina, supported the 
Emperor, with a view to conciliate the Komanist princes. 

After so many conflicts, Germany lay maimed and 
crippled; and, through the hereditary States of Austria 
having particularly suffered such severe reverses, that 
imperial power which Charles V. had raised xip duiing 
his i-eign, thereby seeming to Germany the preponderance 
in Europe, was lost by her under Ferdinand II. and Fer- 
dinand III. in the course of the Thii'ty Years' War. 
Still the treaty which brought that war to an end, by 
adjusting the European equilibrium, definitely estab- 
lished Lutheranism in Germany, and Liitherans and 
Calvinists saw the necessity of laying aside their disputes 
to obtain the abrogation of that foolish and wicked law 
that would compel every subject to follow the religion of 
his sovereign. 

Condition of Germany after the Thirty Years' War. 
— It is not diflicult to understand what were the wounds 
of a country after a war so desolating, and which had 
been so long in the hands of men who had ruthlessly 
spread ruin far and wide by living on the tears and blood 
of Germany. Two-thirds of the population had suc- 
cumbed, less by the edge of the sword than as victims of 
those scourges which war brings in its train — life de- 
stroyed by slow degrees, inconceivable sufferings from 
contagious fevers, plagues, famine, terror, and despair. 
For death upon the field of battle is not the worst of 
war. The worst scourge is foimd in the horrors and 
miseries it inflicts iipon those who are not combatants — 
old men, women, and children, by robbing them of all 
the enjoyments and hopes of life; by the germ of the new 
generation exhibiting a sickly developixient without vigour 
or courage. 



I 



1648-17S9.] Leopold's eeign and character, 251 

Ferdinand III. died in 1657, leaving behind him a 
reputation for good intentions, and for cautious rather 
than prudent statesmanship. His eldest son, Ferdinand, 
the elected King of the Romans, died in 1654 of the 
small-pox, and his second son,- Leopold, had been destined 
by his father to succeed him. Ferdinand accordingly 
procured for him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, 
with the homage of the Austrian States, but the question 
of the succession was left to be decided by a Diet; and 
ultimately he was chosen Emperor in 1659, after a con- 
tested election between him and Loixis XIV. of France, 
who had gained four of the electois over to his 
side. i 

Influence of France over the Affairs of the Empire. 
— The interi'egnum. and indeed the century which fol- 
lowed the death of Ferdinand, showed the alarming 
preponderance of the influence gained by France in the 
affairs of the empire, and the consequent criminality of 
the princes who had first iiavoked the assistance of that 
power. Her recent victories, her character as joint 
guarantee of the Treaty of Westphalia, and the con- 
tiguity of her possessions to the states of the empire, 
encouraged her ministers to demand the imperial crown 
for the youthful Louis XIY. Still more extraordinary 
is the fact that four of the electors were gained by that 
monarch's gold to espouse his views; still more strange 
that a single voice could have been raised in behalf of 
a power which had exhibited an ambition so perfidious 
and grasping; which had inflicted so fatal a blow on the 
confederation; which watched the progress of events, in 
the hope of rendering the country as dependent on France 
as it had been in the time of Charlemagne. 

Leopold's Reign and Character (1657-1705). — The 
long reign of Leopold, which lasted nearly half a century, 
was an eventful time for Germany and Europe, not 
through any striking qualities of the Emperor, but in 
consequence of the many important wars in which he 
was concerned. Thus, though Leopold had no talents 
for war, though he was never present at a battle, his 



253 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD Vlt 

arms were victorious. This result, however, must not 
be ascribed to any merit of his : it arose from the general 
feeling of Europe against one of the most unprincipled 
sovereigns that ever cursed a country, and from the 
alliances offensive and defensive which that feeling inevit- 
ably produced. Leopold's reign was one of great hixmili- 
ation to his house and to the empire. Without talents 
for government, without generosity, feeble, bigoted, and 
pusillanimous, he was little qualified to augment the glory 
of the countiy; though, to do him justice, its prosperity 
was an object which he endeavoured, however ineffectu- 
ally, to promote. Throughout his long reign, he had the 
mortification to witness, on the part of Louis XIV., a 
series of the most unpi'ovoked, wanton, and unprincipled 
usurpations ever recorded in history. It is unnecessary 
hei'e to enter into a subject so universal, but it may be 
observed that, aided by some alliances Avhich his money 
enabled him to procure in the very heart of the empire, 
Louis was a terrific scourge to it: that a sense of the 
common danger roused Holland, the empire, Denmark, 
England, and even Sweden, to combine against the 
common enemy of Europe. Again, that the treaties of 
Nimegu.en in 1679, and of Ryswick in 1697, were but 
truces, made on the part of France only to give time; 
that, though splendid successes accompanied for some 
years the ai'ms of France, victory at length forsook them 
for those of her enemies; that in the war of the SjKmish 
Succession, to which Leopold's soil, the Archduke Charles 
had undoubted claims, though Philip V. was supported 
on the throne by France and Spain, in the Low Countries 
the French were humbled, especially at the glorious battle 
of Blenheim (13th August 1704); and that when Leopold 
died in 1705, all Europe — Italy and Spain especially — 
were animated with a new spirit against France. One 
of Leopold's last acts was to confer, by letters patent, 
the dignity of Priiace of the Empix-e on the Duke of 
Marlborough. 

' The principal internal events in Germany during the 
reigu of Leopold were: — 1. The establishment of a ninth 



1C48-1789.] JOSEPH I. 253 

electorate in favour of Ernest Angnstus, Duke of Bruns- 
wick-Lunenburg, wlio in 1692 became the first Elector 
of Hanover.* 2. The assumption of the regal title by 
Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, 
in 1701. Leopold acknowledged him, as he stood in need 
of his assistance, and Holland, England, and Sweden 
followed the example. 3. The establishment, of a per- 
manent Diet attended, not by tlie electors in person, 
but by their rej^resentatives, is one of the most striking 
peculiarities of Leopold's reign. He was succeeded by his 
eldest son, Joseph I. 

Joseph L (1705-1711), the son of Leopold, who had 
been declared King of Hungary, and, in 1690, had been 
elected King of the Romans, succeeded to the imperial 
crown in 1705. His reign was short but fruitful in great 
events. His foreign wars were brilliantly successful. He 
carried on the war called that of the jSjKcnish Succession, 
which had begun tinder his father, against Louis XIV. In 
the Low Countries, the victories of his general, Eugene, 
and of the' greater Marlboroiigh, brought France into a 
state of degradation which she had never experienced since 
the conquering days of Creci, Poitiers, and Agincourt. 
Lou.is was so far humbled, that, besides relinqu-ishing all 
his former conquests, he proposed, as a condition of peace, 
even to abandon his nephew, Philip V., whom he had 
placed on the troubled throne of Spain, and to acknow- 
ledge the Archduke Charles, brother of the Emperor, who 
was then fighting for the Spanish crown in Catalonia, as 
King of Spain and the Indies. Unfortunately for the 
peace of Europe, the allies, infatuated by success, refused 
the conditions, and the war was continued. In the 
Netherlands, it was still decisive for the allies. The 
battles of Bamilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, the 
deliverence of Turin by Prince Eugene, the surrender 

'* The Electoral College was now constituted of the following 
members :— 

Saxony, Brandenburg, Hanover — Protestant. ) Temporal 
Bohemia, Bavaria, the Palatinate — Romanist, ) Electors. 
Mfiinz, Treves, Qologna—Sinritual Electors, 



254 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 

of Naples to tlie Austrians, and the permanent footing 
obtained by the Archduke Charles in Spain, seemed to 
have nearly decided the question, when Joseph died of 
the small-pox in April 1711, leaving his brother Charles, 
afterwards Charles YI., the last male heir of the House 
of Hapsburg, to conclude the war. 

Character and Reign of Joseph I.— Joseph was a 
good prince; he was learned and assiduous in the dis- 
charge of his duties; humane, charitable, accessible, and 
though a devoted E,oman Catholic, he was no bigot_, no 
' persecutor; in princijile and practice he was alike tolerant. 
Internally, his reign is remarkable for the suppression of 
the Bavarian electorate, in punishment of the tenacity 
with which the late Elector had clung to the alliance of 
France, and for the transfer of the dignity to the Count 
Palatine. Hence the eighth electorate, which had been 
created for the Count Palatine, being suppressed, the 
electoral college had one member less. 

Charles VI. of Germany (1711-1740), bom in 1685, 
was the younger son of the Emperor Leopold I. By the 
death of Joseph, the Archduke Charles, who was striving 
for the Spanish crown, was the only candidate for the 
imperial throne. Charles II. of Spain, the last offspring 
of the Spanish branch of the House of Austria, being 
childless, Leopold had claimed the inheritance of tlie 
crown of Spain for one of his children, as next of blood. 
He fixed upon his younger son, the Archduke Charles, 
as the presumptive heir, and King Charles confirmed the 
choice by his will; but the intrigues of Louis XIV. and 
his friends at the court of Spain made the King alter his 
will before his death in favour of Philip of Anjou, whose 
grandmother was daughter to Philip IV. of Spain and 
sister to Charles II. This gave rise to the long war 
of the SjKmish Succession, in which most of the other 
European powers took part. After the death of Charles 
II. in November 1700, Philip of Anjou was proclaimed 
under the named of Philip V., but the Emperor^ England, 
Holland, and Portugal supported the claims of the Arch- 
duke Charles, who, forsaking the scene of his battles, 



1648-17S9.] CHARLES VI. OF GERMANY. 255 

landed at Lisbon in Marcli 170-i with some English and 
Dutch troojDS, and was assisted by the Portuguese. But 
the public mind of Eurojie was now clianged. If the war 
with France had been undertaken chiefly from a dread 
lest the crown of that country and of Spain might be 
placed on the brow of a Bourbon, the objection was even 
stronger agaizist the union of the Spanish and of the 
Imj^erial crowns, wdth those of Hungary and Bohemia, 
on the brow of an Austrian. From this moment it was 
evidently the object of the allies to make what terms 
they could with Louis XIV. — to acknowledge Philip Y., 
provided security were given that the two thrones were 
never filled by the same prince, and provided the bound- 
aries of the French monarchy on the Belgian and Ger- 
manic frontier were drawn within narrower limits. The 
fall of the Whigs in England, and the accession of the 
Tories to power, strengthened the desire; and it was 
evident, that if England withdrew from the confederacy, 
the war would soon be at an end. Hence negotiations 
were opened j and, after some discussion, a peace was 
concluded; Philip retaining Spain, but renouncing the 
throne of France; England keeping Gibraltar; and, after 
some further manoeuvring, a treaty was signed at Utrecht 
between all the European powers, except France and the 
empire, on the 31st March 1714. Charles VI. received 
as an indemnification all the Spanish jDossessions in Italy, 
with Sardinia, the Netherlands, and the fortresses of 
Kehl, Friburg, and Breisach. The following year Austria 
exchanged Sardinia for Sicily with the Duke of Savoy, 
who assumed the title of King of Sardinia. Frederick 
of Prussia obtained Neufchatel, in Switzerland, as heir of 
its former possessor, Marie de Nemours, a relation of the 
House of Brandenbui-g. Thus ended the war of the 
Spanish Succession, in which France lost her superi- 
ority, and Austria and Germany found the moment 
favourable for resuming their former places in modem 
history. 



HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 



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1648-1789.] MARIA THERESA. 257 

In 1724, Cliarles issued tlic Pragmatic Sanction, or 
fundamental law, which regulates the order of succession 
in the family of Aiistria. By this law, in default of male 
issue, Charles's eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, was called 
to the inheritance of the Austrian dominions, and her 
children and descendants after her. The Pragmatic 
Sanction was guaranteed by all the German princes, and 
several of the other 2)owers of Europe, with the exception 
of the French and Spanish Bourbons, who Avere ahvays 
jealous of the power of Austria. 

Death of Charles VI., and War of the Austrian 
Succession (1740-1748).— The death of Augustus II., 
King of Poland, in 1733, was the signal of a new war on 
the part of the Bourbons against Austria, ostensibly on 
account of the Polish succession, which was disimted 
between Augustus III. and Stanislaus Leczinski. By 
the Peace of Vienna in November 1735, the Emperor 
gave up Naples and Sicily to Don Carlos, Infante of 
Spain, while the succession of Tuscany, after the death 
of Grian Gastone, the last of the Medici, who was child- 
less, was secured to Maria Theresa of Austria and her 
husband, Francis of Lorraine, who in 1739 took posses- 
sion of that fine country. The Emperor Charles died at 
Vienna, 20th October 1740, and was succeeded in his 
hereditary dominions, and afterwards in the empire, by 
his daughter, Maria Theresa, after a long and memorable 
war, known by the name of the War of the Austrian 
Succession. Charles was the last male offspring of the 
House of Austria-Hapsburg. The present house, though 
frequently called the House of Hapsburg, is Austria- 
Lorraine, being the descendants of Maria Theresa and 
Francis of Lorraine. 

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of 
Hungary and Bohemia, and Empress of Germany, was 
bornln 1717. By the death of her father, Charles VL, 
she was, in accordance both with the rights of blood and 
the faith of treaties, the lawful sovereign of Bohemia, 
Hungary, Austria, Upper and Lower, and numerous 
other states, countries, and cities, in Germany, Italy, 



258 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 

and the Netherlands. Of this vast inheritance she accord- 
ingly took undisputed possession. But she had soon to 
experience the faithlessness of princes. Charles Albert, 
Elector of Bavaria — a house which, from its alliance with 
France, and its own ambition, seemed destined to be the 
curse of the empire and the House of Austria — claimed 
Bohemia. Augustus of Saxony, who, like his queen, had 
agi-eed to the Pragmatic Sanction, and by so doing had 
procured the support of Austria in his election to the 
throne of Poland, with great modesty demanded the whole 
■ of the Austrian dominions. A similar demand was made 
by the King of Spain; by the King of France; while the 
King of Sardinia, unable to cope with monarch s so power- 
ful, showed his superior moderation, by declaring tliat he 
would be contented with the duchy of Milan. Maria 
Theresa, however, Avith a spirit and decision remarkable 
for her age, lost no time in repairing to Vienna and taking 
possession of Austria, Bohemia, and her other German 
states; she then proceeded to Presbui'g, took the oaths to 
the constitution of Hungaiy, aud was solemnly proclaimed 
Queen of that kingdom in 1741. 

Invasion of Silesia by Frederick ■William II., King 
of Prussia, surnamed the Great. — The appearance of tx 
young helpless female on the thrones of those vast jDosses- 
sions, opened to these chivalrous princes a glorious pro- 
spect for the dismemberment of her states. But while 
they were carefully apportioning their respective shares 
of the spoil, a new and more dangerous comjietitor 
appeared in Frederick, King of Prussia. He offered the 
young queen his friendship on the condition of her sur- 
rendering Silesia to him, but she resolutely refused, and 
Frederick invaded that province. The Elector of Bavaria 
overran Austria and Bohemia, and pushed his troops to 
the gates of Vienna. Maria Theresa being obliged to 
quit her capital, repaired to Presburg. Convoking the 
Hungarian Diet, she appeared in the midst of that 
assembly with her infant son, Joseph, in her arms. She 
told the magnates, prelates, and deputies, that "being 
assailed by her enemies on every side, forsaken by her 



1G4S-17S9.] THE SEVEN YEARS' WAG. 250 

friends, and finding even her own relatives hostile to her, 
she had no hopes except in their loyalty, and that she 
had come to place xmder their protection the daughter and 
the son of their kings." This heart-stirring appeal was 
answered by a burst of chivalrous enthusiasm. The 
Hungarian nobles drawing their sw^ords, unanimously 
cried out, " Moriamur pro jRege nostro, Maria Theresa," 
and the whole military force of Hungary was soon in 
arms to defend their queen. Her troops, under General 
Kevenhuller and Prince Charles of Lorraine, her brother- 
in-law, fought gallantly, and drove the French and Bava- 
rians oiit of the hereditary states. 

A rival Emperor Elected (22nd Jan. 1742).— Charles 
Albert, Elector of Bavaria, was in the meantime elected 
Emperor of Germany, by the Diet assembled at Frank 
fort, by the title of Charles YII. Frederick of Prussia 
soon made peace with Maria Theresa, who was obliged 
to surrender Silesia to him. But, though still menaced 
by these royal bandits, the queen did not despair: sup- 
ported by HiTngary, which exhibited the most chivalrous 
devotion to her cause, she commenced a career of warfare 
highly glorious to the Austrian arms. In 1744, Frederick 
again declared war against her, and invaded Bohemia j 
but the Elector of Saxony, who had made his peace with 
her, sent the Queen reinforcements, which obliged the 
Prussians to evacuate the country. ._;- 

Francis I. of Lorraine, Grand* Duke of Tuscany, 
Elected Emperor (1745).— In 1745, Charles YII. died, 
and Francis, Maria Theresa's husband, was elected 
Emperor. In 1747, the war continued to rage in Italy 
and Flanders, with various success. In 1748, the peace 
of Aix-la-Chapelle terminated the war called " the Was^, 
of the Austrian Succession," and Maria Theresa was left 
in peaceful possession of all her hereditary dominions, 
except Silesia, which the King of Prussia kept. 

The Seven Years' War. — In 1756 began the Seven 
Tears' War between France, Austria, and E,ussia, on 
one side, and Frederick of Prussia on the other. It 
ended in 1763, leaving both Austria and Prussia with 



2G0 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VII. 

the same boundaries as before. In 1765, Maria Theresa 
lost her husband, for whom she continued to wear mourn- 
ing till her death, and her son, Joseph, was elected 
Emperor, She however retained in her hands the 
administration of her dominions, and devoted all her 
cares to promote their prosperity, and to the improve- 
ment of the people imder her sway. 

The Partition of Poland (1773). — The only important 
act of Maria Theresa's political life with which she can 
be reproached is her partici2:)ation in the first partition of 
Poland. The plan, however, did not originate with her, 
and she for some time refused to accede to the treaty of 
pai'tition drawn up by Prussia and llussia in 1772. 
However, Prince Kaunitz and her own son, Joseph II,, 
urged her to join the two other powers, and she at last 
gave her consent. 

Character cf Maria Theresa. — The improvements which 
Maria Theresa made in her dominions were many and 
important. She was a sincere Roman Catholic, biit not - 
a blind devotee to the court of Rome, and she knew 
how to discriminate betv/een the temporal and spiritual 
jurisdictions. Maria Theresa will ever rank high among 
illustrious women, and among those sovereigns who have 
been the benefactors of mankind. She died at Vienna 
on the 29th of November 1780. With her ended the 
House of Austria-Hapsburg, and at the same time began 
the present dynasty of Austria-Lorraine. 

Joseph II., eldest son of Mai'ia Theresa and of Francis 
of Lorraine, was elected King of the Romans in 1764, 
and in the following year, on the death of his father, he 
became Emperor, As long as his mother lived he had 
little real power, Maria Theresa, as already stated, 
retaining the administration of her vast territories in her 
own hands ; but on her decease he became possessed of 
all the hereditary Austrian dominions. He would soon 
have been hurled from the throne of the empire by the 
ambitious monarch of Prussia, had not the Austrian ai-mies 
maintained him on it. For some years he was not engaged 
in war; and he had no other employment than to witness the 



1648-17S9.] LEOPOLD II. 261 

salutary reforms which his mother had introduced . Indeed, 
during her life, he was no less a cipher than his father 
Lad been; nor could all his efforts, all his intrigues, Avrest 
the sovereign authority from her hands. Hence he rather 
acquiesced in, than eflected, the infamous partition of 
Poland (1773), between Maria Theresa, the Empress of 
Russia, and the Prussian monarch. Soon after his acces- 
sion, Joseph II. displayed considerable ambition, mixed 
with much restlessness; he was, however, kept in check 
by France, and by Frederick of Prussia. After the death 
of Frederick in 1786, Joseph joined Catherine of Russia 
in a war against Turkey, which his general, Laudon, 
cariied on with success, taking Belgrade and other fort- 
resses in 1789. Biit the threatening aspect of affairs in 
France and Brabant arrested the progress of the Austrian 
armies, and Joseph himself died in 1790. The character 
in which Joseph II. is chiefly viewed is that of a reformer 
— in many instances a wise one, but in others rash and 
inconsiderate. With all his liberality, he was perfectly 
desi^otic in carrying his measures into effect, without regard 
to the feelingSj prejudices, or interests of individuals. 

Leopold II. — As Joseph left no issue, Leopold, his 
brother, who, as Grand-duke of Tuscany, had acquired 
great popularity in that state, succeeded to the hereditary 
dominions of the House of Austria. Owing, in a great 
measure, to the rash innovations of his brother, Leopold 
found discontent everywhere; the Netherlands in open 
revolt; Hungary preparing to throw off the yoke, Bohemia 
disaffected; Prussia hostile; England estranged; France 
herself convulsed, and likely to become an enemy; and 
Russia, the only power from which he could expect aid, 
engaged in warfare with the Turks. But Leopold had 
qualities which were sure to win the hearts of his own 
subjects. He abolished the more odioiis innovations; he 
conckided a peace with the Porte; he pacified Hungary 
by restoring such of the ancient privileges of its aristo- 
cracy as had been lately disregarded, and at the same 
time marching troops to restrain the more rebellious 
nobles. The next step of Leopold was to endeavour to 



2(32 iHSTORY OP GERMANY, [pERIOD Vlt. 

pacify the revolted states of the Netherlands, by oflering 
to re-establish their ancient constitutions; and when they 
obstinately refused to listen to his offers, he marched his 
troops into the Low Countries, and the leaders being 
divided amongst themselves, Leopold recovered, without 
much difficulty, those fine provinces. Then came the dis- 
putes with France; the terror caused by the outbreak of 
vhe French Revolution; his efforts to save his sister, 
Marie Antoinette, and Louis XVI., her husband; and 
his alliance with Priissia for the purpose of checking the 
progress of French revolutionary proselytism. In the 
midst of all these cares, Leopold died on the 1st of March 
1792, aged forty -four years. He was generally regretted 
for his afiability, his strict justice, his kindness towards 
the poor, whom he admitted freely into his presence, and 
his sound judgment. He was succeeded by his elde.st son, 
Francis II. 



1648-1789.1 TABLE OF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 263 



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EIGHTH PERIOD. 

FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE PEACE 
OF PARIS (1789-1815). 

Francis II. (1792-1806) succeeded his father in 1792. 
The French Be volution commences a new er;^ in the 
history of Germany, of Europe, almost of the world. The 
new Emperor entered into an alliance with Frederick 
William II,, King of Prussia, against the French Republic. 
To anticipate them, the latter hastened to declare war 
against Austria in 1792. The commencement of 1793 
saw the atrocious murder of Louis XYI. (January 21), 
the sanguinary faction of the Jacobins having got the 
uppermost. 

The history of the German states at this period is unim- 
portant, except in connection with the French Hevolution, 
and the affairs of Poland. The same spirit which pro- 
duced the revolution in France, had penetrated into 
Germany, and even into its courts. It had animated 
and influenced Frederick the Great and the Emperor 
Joseph II. The vast intellectual movement observable 
throughout Europe in the last half of the eighteenth 
century, the upheaving, as it were, and throes of the 
Euro^Dean mind, had given birth almost to the first Ger- 
man literature that can be called original and vernacular. 
The works of most of their distinguished writers began 
to bi-eathe a spirit of liberty. Salzmann sketched a strik- 
ing and perhaps exaggerated picture of the political and 
social evils under which his countrymen laboured. The 
epic poet, Klopstock, gave vent to his aspirations for 
freedom in several odes. In many of Stolberg's pieces, 
love of liberty and hatred of tyrants are ex])ressed with 



17S9-1S15.] THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN OF 179G. 265 

a boldness whicli must have grated strangely on the 
ears of some of the German sovereigns. Schiller's early- 
tragedies were calculated to have more effect. Yet when 
the French Revolution broke out, it found no partisan in 
Schiller. He augured unfavourably of the Constituent 
Assembly, thought them incompetent to establish, or even 
to conceive, true liberty ; foretold the catastrophe of a 
military despotism.* Goethe, his contemporary, regarded 
the explosion in France as an unwelcome interrviption of 
the tranquil pleasures of polite and cultivated society ; 
Wieland, in his essays on the French Revolution, took the 
popular side. A more direct form of propagating liberal 
principles than by literature was by means of clubs and 
secret societies. Of these latter, one called the Order oj 
Illuminati was the most influential. In a few years this 
society numbered thousands of members, belonging chiefly 
to the higher classes. Its principles seem not to have 
threatened any very immediate or alarming danger; never- 
theless, it was suppressed by Charles Theodore, Elector of 
Bavaria. In other German states the Illuminati appear 
to have been left unmolested. 

Prone to reflection, the German mind is not readily 
excited to action. Little desire was manifested in Ger- 
many to imitate the movement in France. It was only in 
the Rhenish provinces, where the people came into imme- 
diate contact with the French, and could be assisted by their 
armies, that any revolutionary spirit was manifested. 

The German Campaign of 1796. — Only a brief out- 
line can be given of the somewhat complicated campaign 
of the French against the empire in 1796. The plan of it 
by Carnot was bold and skilful. Two generals, already dis- 
tinguished, Jourdan and Moreau, having each from 70,000 
to 80,000 men, were to penetrate into Germany, the first 
by the valley of the Mein; the second, by that of the 
Necker, in order to reach the basin of the Danube, and 
descend, from thence, upon the hereditary estates, which 
the army of Bonaparte, 35,000 strong, menaced by way of 
Italy. «^:-..- 

* K. A. Meiizel. Dn Dcutschen. B. vi., S. 285. 



265 HISTORY OF GERJIANY, [PERIOD VlIL 

Bonaparte liad found tlie Fi-encli army cantoned upon 
the southern slopes of tlie Alps and Apennines, where it 
had struggled with difficulty for four years against the 
Sardinian and Austrian troops. Instead of wasting its 
strength among barren rocks, he tried again, by develo])- 
ing it, the mano3uvre which had caused the loss of the 
camp of Saorgio iu 1794, and which, followed up by 
Massena in 1795, had again profited Scherer by the victory 
of Loano, in which the Austrian general was crushed and 
compelled to regain the defiles of the Tyrol, while Brescia 
■ and Sale were recovered by the French. 

The opening of the campaign of 1796 by Bonaparte 
was followed by the most brilliant success. By the 
promptitude of his manceuvres and suddenness of his 
attacks, he completely overcame and separated the army 
of the Sardinians from that of the Austrians, and forced 
the King of Sardinia to sign a treaty of peace; and this 
he followed up by turning his ai-ms against the Austiians, 
and pursuing them to the north of the Po. Thus the 
whole of Central Italy lay iiow open before the Corsican 
conqueror, and all the princes of that coxintry trembled 
at his vengeance. They alternately demanded peace and 
obtained it, but at the sacrifice of millions of money, nume- 
i-ous invaluable paintings, together with other treasures 
of art and precious manuscripts. 

Meanwhile, great events had likewise transpired in 
Germany. The forces tliere had scarcely commenced 
operations, when already the principal blow Avas struck 
in Italy, and the brave old warrior, YAimrsei", was sum- 
moned from Germany with 30,000 men to the relief of 
ISIantua, the last stronghold of tlie Austrians in Italy. 
The French armies, according to Carnot's plan, drawn u[) 
by order of the French Directory, were now enabled to 
penetrate into the heart of the Germanic empire. In 
August, Jourdan was within only a few days' march of 
Katisbon, and Morcaii was close to Munich, with the army 
of the Ehine and Moselle; the latter general declared 
openly that his object was to give his right hand to Bona- 
parte's army in Italy, and his left to that of Jourdan. 



17S9-1815.1 THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN OP 1706. 2G? 

This junction of sucli overwlielming masses of troops 
broiiglit witli it the most alarming opiiearances, and this 
was one of the most critical and dangerous moments for 
Austria. Nevertheless, the peril thus threatened was 
once more diverted by the youthful hero of that imperial 
house. The Archduke Charles now came forth, and sud- 
denly marching with his troops against Jourdan, attack- 
ing him at Neumark (27th August), and at Amberg on 
the 24th, beat him so completely that the whole army ol 
the Sambre and Meuse took to flight, and never halted 
till it gained the Lower Rhine. Jourdan rallied them at 
Miihlheim, marched thence to Dusseldorf, and shortly 
afterwards resigned the command. By this disaster, 
Moreau was forced likewise to make a retreat to the 
Upper Pthine; and this he effected in such masterly style, 
that after marching over the most perilous roads through 
Swabia and the Black Forest, and being continually pur- 
sued and hemmed in by the enemy, he gained the banks 
of the Rhine well provided with booty, and bringing with 
him even a number of prisoners taken on his march. 
By this admirable retreat, the fame of Moreau as a 
general was permanently established. The leaders on 
both sides now agreed upon an armistice being concluded 
on the Rhine during the Avinter. 

The Archduke Charles, on whom all eyes were nov/ 
turned with admiration, received a hasty summons to 
repair to Italy, in order to reorganise the Austrian army. 
Wurmser, although successful in several attacks, was only 
able to throw himself, with a subsidy of 10,000 men, into 
Mantuaj but Bonaparte had now arrived, and, renewing 
the siege, forced them, on the 6th of February 1797, to 
surrender-. 

The Archduke, with a broken-down and dispirited 
army, was not in a condition to check the progress made 
by Bonaparte. The latter, after the fall of Mantua, 
penetrated more and more nortliAvards, crossed the Al2:)S 
which separate Italy from Carinthia, and rapidly advanced 
through Styria upon Vienna. But his coui'se, at this 
time, had been pursued with too much impetuosity, and 



268 HISTORY OF GERMANY". [PERIOD VIII. 

tlie situation in wliich lie now found himself was extremely 
critical. In liis front lie had the imperial army, which, 
at every retrogressive step, became moi-e and more for- 
midable, as Vienna had already anned itself, and Hungary 
was rising en masse. On his left flank, the imperial 
general. Laud on, was marching in advance against him 
from the Tyrol: and in his rear, in the vicinity of Trieste, 
another numerous body of troops, together with the whole 
of the Venetian territory, were under arms. In this state 
of things, if Austria had been willing to stake the chances 
■she might have succeeded in annihilating her adversary 
with one bloAV. Bonaparte was lost should the Archduke's 
plan of operations meet with the approbation of the 
Viennese cabinet, and perfectly aware of the fact, he 
made proj)osals of peace under pretence of sparing unneces- 
sary bloodshed. The imperial court, stupefied by the late 
discomfiture in Italy, acceded to them. Preliminaries of 
peace were concluded at Leoben, by which the French, 
besides being liberated from their dangerous position, 
were recognised as victors. The negotiations were con- 
tinued at Campo Formio, a nobleman's castle near Udiiie, 
where the Austrians somewhat regained courage, and 
Count Cobenzl even ventured to refuse some of the 
articles proposed. Bonaparte, irritated by oi^position^ 
dashed a valuable cup, the gift of the Russian Empress, 
violently to the ground, exclaiming, "You wish for war? 
Well! you shall have it, and your monarchy shall be 
shattered like that cup." The armistice, however, was 
not interrupted, and hostilities were even suspended on 
the Rhine (October 1797). Thus Bonaparte, in two 
campaigns, subjugated Italy; gained fourteen battles; 
wrested their arms from the grasp of all the states in that 
quarter ; and, finall}^, brought over Austria to sign a peace. 
The Emperor, by this treaty, ceded the Austrian Nethei'- 
lands to France, and renounced his Italian possessions, 
including the capital of Milan, together with several other 
Italian provinces, which were to form a Cisalpine Republic, 
under the protectorship of France. In return for this, 
Austria received Venice, the Venetian Isles, Istria, and 



1780-1815.] THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN OP 179G. 2G9 

Dalmatia, and engaged to summon, fortliwitli, a congress 
at Rastadt, in order to treat, more fully, the several 
conditions of tlie peace concluded between the French 
republic and the Germanic empire. The triumph of the 
republic was confirmed, and ancient Europe received a 
new form. The object for which the sovereigns of France 
had for centuries vainly striven was won by the monarch- 
less nation; France gained tLe preponderance in Eui'ope. 
Italy and the whole of the left bank of the Rhine were 
abandoned to her arbitrary rule, and this fearful loss, far 
from acting as a warning to Germany and promoting her 
union, merely increased her internal dissensions, and 
offered to the French republic an opportunity for inter- 
vention, of which it took advantage for purposes of gain 
and pillage. 

The principal object of the policy of Bonaparte and of 
the French Directory, at that period, was, by rousing the 
ancient feelings of enmity between Austria and Prussia, 
to eternalise the disunion between those two monarchies. 

A coalition of powers was now forraed against France, 
such as had never before been brought into operation: 
being a union of Russia, England, Austria, and even 
Turkey. At the moment when the negotiations with the 
Germanic empire had as yet made but little progress, and 
consequently the peace of continental Europe was not yet 
secured, and when England was maintaining a gloriously 
victorious struggle on the seas, the flower of the French 
army, headed by Bonaparte and their best and most suc- 
cessful leaders, suddenly embarked and set sail towards 
a distant land. Bonaparte, compelled to veil his ambi- 
tious projects, judged it more politic, after sowing the 
seed of discord at Campo Formio, to withdraw awhile, in 
order to await the ripening of the plot, and to return to 
reap the result. He accordingly went, meantime (May 
1798), with a small biit well-picked army to Egypt, for 
the obstensible piirpose of opening a route overland to 
India, the sea-passage having been closed against France 
by the British, but in reality for the purpose of awaiting 
there a turn in Continental affaix's. 



270 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VTII. 

During Bonaparte's alasence, tlie weakness of the Direc- 
tory had allowed all the fruits of the peace of Campo 
Formio to be lost. On the renewal of the war in 1799, 
at the instigation of the Neapolitan court, the Austrians 
were assisted by the Russians, and at the close of the 
eighteenth century, the tide of affaii"s seemed to be turn- 
ing greatly against the French, when a new revolution 
in the fluctuating government of that disturbed people, 
brought about chiefly by financial difficulties, suddenly 
changed the face of things. 

. Affairs to the Assumption of the Chief Power by 
Bonaparte (1799-1800). — Only a general idea of the 
campaign of 1799 can be given. On the 6th March, the 
French fleet was utterly destroyed by Lord Nelson in the 
Bay of Aboukir. The Directory declared war against 
the Emperor, who had lately formed a coalition with 
Russia, England, and Turkey. The French were anxious 
to obtain possession of the Grison country. At Ostrach 
and Stockach, Jourdan was defeated by the Archduke 
Charles. A Russian army, under Suvaroff, entered Italy, 
and, in union with the Austrians, defeated the French 
at Cassano, in Lombardy, and drove them to Milan and 
Genoa. Alessandria was taken, and the French, under 
Jonbert and Moreau, were routed at Novi. Suvarofi 
marched into Switzerland, where there had been some 
severe fighting. Korsakofi* had led another Russian army 
into that country. Massena, the French commander, 
attacked and defeated this last officer, and Zurich was 
taken by storm. But the retreat of Jourdan rendered 
these dear-bought successes unavailing; and before the 
end of March the French were driven back in this quarter 
by Bellegarde. The Aulic Council at Vienna did them, 
however, some service by forbidding the Archduke to 
pursue his victorious career. The Russians, accusing the 
Austrians of treason, withdrew from the coalition. 

Murder of the French Plenipotentiaries at Rastadt. 
■ — The advance ot the Austrians had compromised the 
safety of French plenipotentiaries at Rastadt, near Baden. 
Count ]\Ietternich, the imi^erial minister, had announced 



17S9-1815.] DEFEAT OP THE FRENCH IN ITALY. 271 

his recall (April 7), as well as tlie resohition of tlie Emperor 
to annul all that ha,cl been done at E,astaclt. The congress 
was thus dc facto terminated, as the deputation of the 
empire could not deliberate in the absence of a represen- 
tative of the Emperor. Nevertheless the French minister 
remained. A guarantee of the neutrality of Rastadt, 
which the latter endeavoured to obtain from the com- 
mander of the Austrian advanced posts at Gernsbach, 
was refused. On the evening of April 28, the town was 
occupied by a detachment of Szekler hussars, whose colonel 
having directed tha French ministers to leave it within 
twenty-four hours. Bonnier, a man of violent temper, 
persuaded his colleagues to depart at once, though it was 
already night. Their carriages had scarcely cleared the 
town when they were surrounded by a party of Szeklers ; 
Bonnier and Bobertjot were sabred; Jean Debry, severely 
wounded, and left for dead, contrived to get back to 
Rastadt. Nothing was taken from the French ministers 
but their portfolios. This atrocious violation of the law 
of nations created universal indignation and abhorrence 
in Europe. There could be little doubt that the order 
for the crime must have emanated from the cabinet of 
Vienna, and the presumption was strengthened by the 
sudden suppression by that cabinet of the judicial inquiry 
which had been instituted. 

The Austrians defeat the French in Italy. — Mean- 
while, the Austrians in Italy reduced Coni (May 19), and 
invested Genoa. Naples was reached and taken (June 
17); scenes of vengeance and massacre ensued, to put an 
end to which Buffo granted the revolutionists a favour- 
able capitulation. The French garrison in the castle of 
St. Elmo surrendered July 5, and on the 27th King- 
Ferdinand IV. re-entered his capital. Every lover of his 
country, every admii-er of her greatest naval hero, must 
lament that Nelson, who was absent from Naples at the 
time of the capitulation, should have disavowed it on his 
return, though signed by one of his own captains; that 
he should have persuaded King Ferdinand to repudiate 
it, and to condemn to death a great many of the revolu- 



272 HISTORY OP GEUMAi^r. [period VII. 

tionists, including Prince Moliterno, Marquis Caraccioli, 
and the Duke of Cassano ; nay, that lie should have con- 
verted the quarter-deck of his own vessel into a place of 
execution, A fatal syren had corrupted for awhile the 
heart of the victor of Aboukir, and, in the intoxication 
of unlawful love, had caused him to forget the dictates of 
humanity and his own glory. 

Bonaparte Reconquers Italy from the Austrians. — 
On learning the loss of Italy, and the danger and defeats 
of France, Bonaparte siiddenly quitted Egypt without 
being recalled, and suddenly reappeared in Paris. The 
struggle of parties had recommenced with greater violence 
than ever, and resulted in placing Bonaparte at the head 
of the republic, with the title of First Consul (29th Dec.) 
In the following spring the brilliant soldier of Areola and 
Rivoli crossed the Alps by the Pass of Mont St. Bernard, 
fell upon the rear of Melas, the Austrian general, and in 
a single battle (Marengo), i-econquered Italy (14th June 
1800). This transcendent success, together with the 
splendid victory of Moreau, at Hohenlinden, over the 
Archduke John, forced Austria to sign the peace of Lune- 
ville (9th February 1801), in which Austria recognised 
Holland, Switzerland, and the north of Italy as indepen- 
dent states protected by France, under the names of the 
Batavian, Helvetic, Ligurian, and Cisalpine Republics, 
and ceded to the French the entire left bank of the Rhine 
with four millions of inhabitants. 

England declares War against France (May 1803). 
— The treaty of Luneville was rapidly followed by that 
of Amiens (27th March 1802), by which England con- 
cluded a peace with France. But this cessation of 
hostilities lasted little more than a year. England, pre- 
ferring open war to a hollow peace, resolved to again 
draw the sword, if necessary, against France, and demanded 
of .Bonaparte the evacuation of Holland and of Switzer- 
land, and, on his refusal, declared war against him (May 
1803). No sooner was the English minister's (Mr. Pitt) 
proclamation issued than the French took possession of 
Hanover, although it formed a portion of the Germanic 



1789-1S15.] WIE TKEATY OF PRESBURG. 273 

empire, witli wliich they Avere at peace. After tlie con- 
quest of tlieir country, many tlionsand Hanoverians passed 
over into England, where they were formed into a brigade 
called the " King's German Legion," and served with dis- 
tinction in Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. 

Bonaparte chosen Emperor (1804). — In 1802, that 
energetic general and able administrator, Napoleon Bona- 
pai'te seemed to have reached the summit of glory, in 
having for a second time given peace to France externally, 
But the climax of his wonderful career had not yet been 
attained. Internal discord and dangerous innovations in 
the Tribunal resulted in a declaration from the Senate. 
urging the First Consul to govern the French Ptepublic 
as hereditary Emperor by the title of Napoleon I., and 
the people ratified by their suffrages the establishment 
of a new dynasty, which, sprung from the revolution, 
should preserve the principles of it (18th May 1804). 
But the powerful master of France did not know how to 
master himself or hold within fixed limits his towering 
ambition. Created Emperor in France, he became King 
of Italy (18th March 1805). 

Austerlitz and the Treaty of Presburg (1805).— 
The contest with England, as already stated, recommenced 
in 1803. Russia and Austria again coalesced with that 
power. Napoleon, with his characteristic impetuosity, 
burst into Germany in the beginning of October 1805. 
Wurtemberg, Baden, and Bavaria joined their forces tc 
his, and the Duke of Wurtemberg and the Elector of 
Bavaria were rewarded by his conferring on them the 
title of King. Ulm surrendered on the 1 7th of October. 
On the 21st, the news of a great naval reverse gave jDro- 
["ound anxiety to the French Emperor. The same day 
on which the Austrian general evacuated Ulm, after a 
bloody engagement. Admiral Yilleneuve was defeated by 
Nelson in the sanguinary battle of Trafalgar. The French 
irmy entered Vienna (November 13). On the 2nd of 
December was fought the great battle of Austerlitz, 
ivhich ended in the complete defeat of the Russians and 
A-ustrians, and enabled the French Emperor to dictate 



274 ■ HISTORY OP GEKJIAXY. [PERIOD VIII. 

a peace witli Austria.. Soon after tins battle, which 
Naj^oleon called ''the battle of the three Emperors," a 
treaty of peace was signed at Presburg (26tli December 
1805), by which Austria gave up the Tyrol to Bavaiia, 
her Swabian possessions to Wurtemberg and Baden, ancl 
her Venetian dominions to Bonaparte, as King of Italy, 
The Emperor of Bussia withdrew his troops into his own 
territories. The King of Prussia, who had remained 
neutral in this contest, received Hanover as the reward 
of his neutrality; or, as is most probable, that electorate 
was conferred on him for the piirpose of placing his 
interests in opposition to those of the King of England, 
who, it could not be doubted, would seize the first oppor- 
tunity of reclaiming his ancient inheritance. 

Thus rapidly was this coalition dissolved in a short 
campaign, which proved universally successful, except on 
that element in which the jDower of England still reigned 
without a rival. Encouraged by her naval victory of 
Trafalgar, England continued the 
Prussia to descend into the arena. 

Confederation of the Rhine — Dissolution of the 
(rermanio Empire. — On the 12th of July 1806, sixteen 
of the German priiices solem.nly renounced their fealty to 
the empire, and formed a league called the Confederation 
of the Bhine, and placed themselves under the protection 
of Napoleon. On the 1st of August he declared the 
German Empire at an end; and five days later, Francis 
II., on laying aside that dishonoured crown of the ancient 
empire, which, 1006 years j)revioiTsly, Charlemagne had 
placed on his own brow — assumed the title of Emperor 
of Austria.*' Thus Avas extinguished, after having lasted 

* The family from wMch tlie imperial dynasty of Austria 
sprang in the seventh century was that of the House of Hapsburg. 
Hapsbui'g was an ancient castle in Switzerland, on a lofty eminence 
near Schintznach. In 1156, the Margraviate of Hapsburg was 
made an hereditary dudnj by the Emperor Frederick I., and, in 
1453, it was raised to an archduclnj by the Emperor Frederick 
III. Rodoliih, Count of Hapsburg, having been elected Emi^eror 
of Germany in 1273, acquired Austria in 1278; and, from 1493 to 
1804, his descendants were Emperors of Germany. 



1739-1S15.] CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE. 275 

SO many ages, the Holy Roman Empire, more properly 
called the Geronanic Empire. Prussia, whicli had been 
too much alarmed by the rapid progress of the Erench 
armies in Germany to dare to break her neutiulity, 
now entered into a league with Russia, and took arms to 
descend into the arena. The establishment of the Rhenish 
Confederation was viewed as at once an attack and an 
insult upon Prussia, 

That Confederation completed another great step towards 
universal domination. Napoleon was now master of Italy 
and Dalmatiaj he had humbled Austria and overturned 
the first throne of Christendom; he was the Protector and 
Dictator of a great part of Germany. The epoch of the 
Austrian war and humiliation of the Emperor was also 
marked by the deposition of the Pope. 

The result of this ill-advised attempt of Prussia to 
avenge an insidt by a declaration of war was what might 
have been anticipated. Napoleon replied to the provoca- 
tion of the Berlin cabinet by a thunderbolt. He gave 
the allied armies no time to unite their forces, but con- 
centrating his own great army still in Germany, he fell 
upon the Prussians. Two terrible blows were struck at 
Auerstadt and Jena. A portion of the Prussian army 
was at Auerstadt, under the command of the Duke of 
Brunswick; and the other, under the orders of the Prince 
of Plohenlohe, was stationed at Jena, but both without 
acting in combination with each other ; and they were 
accordingly attacked and decisively defeated on the same 
day. Marshal Davoust fought at Auerstadt, and Napoleoji 
in person at Jena. In a month (8th November), the 
Priissian monarchy had ceased to exist. Ten days after 
the battle of Jena, Napoleon marched into Berlin, and 
from Potsdam lie took the sword of Frederick the Great. 
Encouraged by his success, he declared in Berliia that he 
Avould never give up that city until he had conquered a 
general peace; and it was from that same city he issued 
the decree (21st November 1806) against the English, 
by which the British Islands were declared in a state of 
blockade, British manufactures excluded from all the 



276 



HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD VIII. 



continental ports, all Biitish property on the continent, 
and vessels that had only even touched on the shores 
of Albion, were to be seized. As Napoleon could not 
reach England with the sword, he thought to crush her 
by stifling her commerce. But the results, as it turned 
out, were more injurious to the continent. A similar 
decree was issued from IMilan. 




EOYAL PALACE, BERLIN. 

Battles of Eylau and Friedland. — From Prussia, 
Napoleon marched soon afterwards against the Russian 
armies in Poland. There too he was successful, after a 
long and hai-der contest, defeating them at Eylau (8th 
February 1807), and at Friedland (14th June). The 
Emperor Alexander then entered into negotiations, and 
a peace was concluded at Tilsit, on the Niemen (July 7). 
By the terms of this peace the King of Prussia was 
stri2:iped of almost half his dominions. These spoils of 
Prussia were given to Saxony and Westphalia, two new 
kingdoms now created by Napoleon. In the electoi'ate 
of Saxony the Elector was made Kiiig, and Prussian 



17S0-1S15.] RISING m PORTUGAL AND SPAIN. 277 

Poland was added to his dominions. Jerome Bonaparte 
Avas made King of Westphalia. Having made these dis- 
positions, Napoleon returned in triumph to Paris, bearing 
with him the sword of Frederick the Great, and the car 
with its bronze horses which had ornamented the Bran- 
denburg gate of Berlin. 

Conquests of Napoleon. — Napoleon's empire, which 
extended from the moiiths of the Elbe to those of tlio 
Tiber, included L30 departments. This was the moment 
of his greatest ascendancy. Every poAver of the continent 
that had dared to resist the arms of Prance was at this 
time prostrated by continual defeats. England alone 
remained inaccessible. The invasion of that country 
was a favourite project with the daring and brilliant con- 
queror; but a project much too dangerous to be attempted 
without first acquiring a great maritime power. He 
therefore had recourse to the system, already mentioned, 
which has been connnonly called the continental blockade. 
Pussia and Denmai-k took j^art with him in this policy, 
which required them to break off all communication with 
England; and at length those powers joined Prance openly 
in the war. This juncture discloses also a new scene of 
events which necessarily withdraws attention, for a 
short time, from the politics of the northern pov.'^ers of 
Europe. 

The Rising in Portugal and Spain. — Portugal refus- 
ing to associate herself with this new policy, Napoleon, 
in concert with Charles IV., King of Spain, sent an army 
under Junot to invade Portugal, and drive the English, 
one of her oldest allies, out of that kingdom. The Prince 
Regent of Portugal sailed for Brazil, and the French 
troops took possession of Lisbon (30th November 1807). 
During these operations, the court of Madrid presented 
to the world a most sorrowful spectacle. The hereditary 
prince was conspiring against his father, influenced by an 
unworthy favourite; and the King invoked the aid of the 
French Emperor. Napoleon met the King and Prince 
at Bayonne, and decided the old monarch to abdicate in 
his, the Emperor's, favour (9th May 1808), who placed 



2 / b inSTORY OV GERMANY. [PEillOD VIII. 

on the tlirone his brothex- Joseph, King oi" Naples. This 
attempt to lay hands upon Spain was Napoleon's greatest 
fault, and one of the causes of the fall of the empire. The 
Spaniards, indignant at the insult offered to their country 
by thus elevating a foreigner to the throne, rose with 
enthusiasm to repel the intrusion. Imploring the aid of 
England, an English army, under the command of Sir 
Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Marquis and Duke oi 
Wellington), was promptly dispatched to assist these 
struggles in the Peninsula. Juuot was forced to evacuate 
-Portiigal, and nearly at the same time Joseph quitted 
Madrid. In November 1808, however, Napoleon him- 
self entered Spain, and soon made himself master of the 
greater part of the country. Madrid submitted to him, 
December 4. 

Austria rises against Napoleon. — In spite of the 
success with which the French arms had thus been almost 
everywhere crowned, the resistance they had met Avith in 
Spain taught the Emperor of Austria how much might 
be effected by the swoixls of a united people, and awakened 
the slumbering spirit of the other powers of the continent. 
The natives of Germany, it was hoped, thoroughly weary 
of the Erench yoke, would patriotically answer the sum- 
mons of Austria. The commercial interests of the whole 
of Europe were almost ruined by the effect of those 
decrees which precluded, or at least extremely embar- 
rassed, the ti'ade with England ; and the Emperor Francis 
was impatient imder his past losses, and eager to redeem 
them. In the spring of 1809, the Tyrol revolted. The 
Westphalians expelled King Jerome from his new domin- 
ions, and it was believed that Prussia was ready to take 
advantage of the first reverses of Napoleon to join her 
forces to those of the Aixstrians. Unhaj)pily the move- 
ments of Austria were so slow as to allow Napoleon tinie 
to return from Madrid into Germany, and ^^lace himself 
at the head of the Pthenish Confederac}^ " I come not," he 
said, "as Emperor of France — I stand here as the jjrotector 
of your land and of the German league. Not a French 
soldier is among us. Alone 3^ou shall beat the enemy." 



17S9-1S15.] THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN. 27S 

In the montli of April 1809, Napoleon five times defeated 
the Austrians, gaining successive victories at Eckmnhl 
and Essling; a second time took possession of Vienna; 
and, though beaten in a terrible engagement at Asperne. 
where, for the first time, Napoleon was completely over- 
thrown, he, a short time after^vards, conquered at the 
bloody battle of Wagram (6th July). He then dictated 
a peace, called the Peace of Schonbriin, which was signed. 
October 14, 1809. 

Napoleon at the Summit of Power (1810-1812).— 
The Continent was now again prostrate at the feet ol 
Napoleon. The Tyrol was given up to devastation; the 
Pope dethroned; Bernadotte, a French general, was 
elected successor to the throne of Sweden; and Louis, 
King of Holland, although brother to the French Emperor, 
yet being thought to allow of a freer intercourse with 
England than the jealousy of Napoleon would tolerate, 
was dispossessed of his kingdom, and the Dutch territories 
were incorporated with France. Now also Napoleon 
allied himself by marriage with the most ancient and 
illustrious house in Europe. He divorced the Empress 
Josephine, and was united to Marie Louisa, Archduchess 
of Austria, a daughter of the Emperor Francis IL (March 
11,1810). In the following year the birth of a son (March 
20), to whom was given the title of King of Home, 
swelled to the utmost the tide of his prosperity. 

The Russian Campaign (1812). — By the Peace of 
Schonbriin, Napoleon had reached such a climax of suc- 
cess, that all hope appeared then lost of ever seeing hia 
power broken. But even amidst all the glory and triumph 
and prosperity which he enjoyed during the br'ief interval 
aftbrded by this peace, a new war was preparing. The 
Emperor of Russia, during the French campaign against 
Austria, which ended in the disaster of Wagram, main- 
tained the alliance he had contracted at Tilsit, though 
he repented of a policy which appeared daily to add new 
strength to the overbearing power of France. In the 
latter part of 1810, he renewed his intercourse with Eng- 
land ; and during that year both he and Napoleon pre- 



280 insTorvY of Germany, [pertob vni. 

pared for a contest, which, through the latter's rashness 
and unprincipled ambition, was destined to prove the chief 
cause of his ruin, by enabling Germany to cast off the 
yoke he had imposed npon her. Already his arms 
were no longer invincible. In Spain, Junot, Massena 
himself, had not been able to conquer Portugal, and 
General Dupont had signed his disgraceful capitulation 
of Baylen. The hoj)es of his enemies brightened, and 
England once more succeeded in detaching Eussia fi'om 
his alliance. 

To constrain that j^ower to re-enter the system of the 
continental blockade, Napoleon entered upon the rashest 
of enterprises. On the 24th June 1812, he crossed the 
Niemen, at the head of 450,000 men. He thereupon issued 
a proclamation, in which he declared war against Eussia. 
The expedition appeared at first to succeed. The Eussians 
Avere everywhere beaten; at Witejisk, at Smolensk, at 
Valoutina. On the 7th September, he engaged in a great 
battle with the Eussian army, near Borodino, a village 
in the environs of Moscow. This sanguinary battle 
proved indecisive, but, a few days afterwards, Kutiisoff, 
the Eussian general, thought it expedient to retreat and 
deliver up Moscow, the second capital of the empire, to 
Napoleon, which city the Eussian governor caused to be 
set on fire on quitting it. 

Napoleon had thus far triumphed, but this was the 
term fixed by Providence of his success. He installed 
himself inauspiciously in the Kremlin (the ancient palace 
of the Czars), Avhen the flames of the burnt city had 
exhaiisted themselves. But the Eussian power was still 
imbroken; his communication with France would soon 
be cut ofi"; and the vast armies of the enemy advance on 
him in the spring. All this was obvious. Yet he hoped 
that the eclat of his conquest would now induce Alexander 
to seek for peace. Failing in this hope, he himself pro- 
l)osed to negotiate; but was answered promptly, that no 
terms could be entered into while an enemy remained in 
the Eussian territories. After twice renewing the same 
proposal, and with the same ill success, Napoleon, though 



17S0-1S15.] THS GERMAN CAMPAIGN. 281 

in the fiice of a Russian winter, wbicli tliat year com- 
menced earlier tlian ordinary, determined to begin his 
retreat. The circumstances of tliat cahxmitons retreat are 
well known. A great part of the army, all the horses, 
all the baggage, perished or were abandoned, either amidst 
the snow, or in the disastrous passage of the Beresina. 
Napoleon himself, on the 5tli Deceinber, set out on a 
sledge for Paris, whilst the relics of his army arrived on 
the 12tli at Kowno, the same place Avhere, six months 
before, they had crossed the JNiemen in their invasion of 
Russia. How different the state in which they now re- 
crossed it ! Of half a million of men, including Prussians 
and Austrians, who are supposed to have engaged in this 
disastrous expedition, not 50,000, it is calculated, escaped 
death or captivity. However, those of the soldiers who 
still remained in arms resisted eveiy attempt to dispei-se 
them, and Napoleon, on reaching Pai'is, made immense 
preparations towards repairing his losses. 

Bat it was all over with the prestige of his invincible 
power. All his allies turned one after another against 
him. General York, who commanded the Prussian army 
had no sooner gained the frontiers of his own country 
than he abandoned the French, and proposed to the King 
that he should immediately join the Russians; a suggestion 
which Frederick William adopted without hesitation, in 
the hope that was now given of crushing for ever the 
insatiable ambition of the French Emperor. Sweden also 
acceded to this new coalition, but Austria showed much 
tergiversation. 

The German Campaign — Battles of Gross-Beeren 
and Lutzen. — Though France was able to march a very 
large and powerful force into Germany early in the spring, 
new enemies had arisen in the meantime. The coalition 
confronted Napoleon with 500,000 soldiers, 1600 guns, 
and a reserve, ready to bring into line, of 250,000 more. 
Two Frenchmen were in its ranks: the Prince-royal of 
Sweden, Bernadotte, and the victor of Hohenlinden, 
Moreau, who, a.t the invitation of the Empress of Russia, 
had returned from America to aim a deadly blow against 



282 iirsTORY OP Germany. [period viu. 

his country.* Nevertlieless, ISTapoleon was still alert and 
intrepid. On May 2, 1813, he gained a victory over the 
Russians and Prussians at Lntzen. On the 20th and 
21st, he gained another at Bautzen. The Emperor of 
Austria then proposed a mediation. An armistice was 
concluded on the 4th June, and a congress assembled at 
Prague to take into consideration terms of peace. The 
terms proposed were, that the French empire should be 
bounded by the Alps, the Rhine, and the Mouse, and that 
the German States should be restored to their independ- 
. ence. These terms were positively rejected by Bonaparte, 
and the armistice terminated August 10. Immediately 
afterwards Austria joined the confederates. 

The French Emperor had upon the Elbe and under 
hand only 360,000 men; still, however, presuming too 
far upon his strength, notwithstanding the inequality of 
numbers, and that his battalions Avere mostly filled by 
conscripts, he dared to threaten at one and the same time 
Berlin, Breslau, and Prague; which enfeebled him at his 
centre, at Dresden, where, however, in a great battle 
near that city on the 26th and 27th August, Napoleon 
defeated the allies and compelled them to retreat. But 
whilst the great army of Bohemia was in disorderly flight 
across the mountains whence it had descended, Napoleon 
learned that Macdonald had just sustained a disaster at 
Katzbach (26th-29th Axigust), and that Oudinot had been 
beaten on the 23rd at Gross-Beeren, upon his march to 
Berlin, and that Bavaria had joined the coalition. These 
bad tidings prevented him from following up in person the 
pursuit of the defeated army and overwhelming it. Van- 
. damme, operating in Bohemia, but not being supported, 
was crushed at Kulm (30th August), which nullified the 
victory at Dresden by leaving to the Austrians the bul- 
wark of the Bohemian Mountains, with the facility ol 
issuing therefrom at will in order to turn the right of the 

* Whilst Moreaxi v/as in the act of indicathig to the Emperor 
Alexander a certain mancenvre to be carried out, a cannon bal] 
from Napoleon's artillery of the guard broke both his thigha. 
Ee died four days afterwards. 



17S9-1S15.] THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN. 283 

French army. Tlie defeat of Macdonald Lad lost Silesia 
a,nd brouglit Bliiclier into Saxony; that of Oudinot and 
anothei* sustained by Ney at Dennewitz (6th Sej)tember), 
in attempting to re-open the road to Berlin, allowed 
Bernadotte to reach Wittenberg, whence he joined hands 
with Bliicher. Davout, who was already in the middle 
of Mecklenburg, where he had taken Wismar, Avas forced 
to follow the general movement of retreat beyond the 
Elbe. Thus, from Wittenberg to Tojplitz, the forces of 
the coalition formed a segment of a circle bristling Avith 
300,000 sabres and bayonets threatening the front of the 
French, at the same time that its extremities made efforts 
to join ranks in the rear of Napoleon, with the intention 
of cutting off his return to France. Thus brought to bay, 
the French Emperor once again attempted to cut his way 
through the encircling enemy. On Napoleon concentrat- 
ing his forces round Leipzic, that city being in the occu- 
pation of the French, the allied army was immediately 
formed into a crescent, having a single opening to the 
south-west, which they intended to fill up on the arrival 
of the Swedish army, under Bernadotte, and the Russian 
and Austrian divisions of Bennigsen and Colloredo. 
With such dispositions, Bonaparte resolved to stand the 
hazard of a general engagement, and on the 1 6th of Oct. 
■was fought what the Germans have called the Battle of 
the Nations — a conflict the most murderous of modern 
history; 190,000 Frenchmen sustaining, during three 
doys, the furious attacks of 133,000 allied enemies. The 
Saxons and Wurtemberg cavalry went over to the enemy 
upon the field of battle, and fired their cannon already 
loaded wdth French balls ujDon the French soldiery. So 
great was the vibration caused by the discharge of at 
least 1200 pieces of artillery, that "the ground shook 
and reeled as with an earthquake." At the end of the 
third day's struggle the reserves of the French artillery 
were exhausted, thei-e remaining munitions for only 15,000 
discharges, that is to say, for two hours' further combat; 
and the numbers of their enemies were incessantly increas- 
ing. As in 1812, the great captain was compelled to fall 



28-1 HlStOUY OF GERMANY. [PERIOb Vlit» 

back witliout having been conquered, which voluntary 
retreat became a disaster; so in 1813 also that retreat 
involved a catastrophe only less calamitous than that of 
Moscow, because a less distance was to be crossed before 
he could reach a place of safety; and because he had not 
now to contend with the climate of Russia, or with the 
hardships of a rigorous season. Napoleon, with a view 
not to reveal too plainly his intentions, had not cavised 
bridges to be thrown over the Elster and Pleisse; one 
only, long and narrow, had been constructed at the divided 
branches of the two rivers. Therefrom arose a great 
obstacle to the crossing of the troops, delay, and then a 
fatal error. Soon after Napoleon had crossed, a miner 
blew up the Elster bridge before the last division of the 
army with two marshals and many commanders of corps 
had cleared it; so that 25,000 men were in consequence 
cut to pieces, taken prisoners by the allies, or drowned in 
the river. Macdonald swam across it; Lauriston and 
Eeynier were made prisoners; the valiant Poniatowsky, 
after fighting bravely until the streets of Leipzic were 
strewn with the bodies of his soldiers, retreated towards 
the Elster; but finding the bridge destroyed, he tried tc 
swim his horse across the stream. Bat the bank being 
steep on the other side, the horse, in attempting to clear 
it, fell back on his rider, and both were drowned. Soon 
after the evacuation by the French, the two Emperors 
and the King of Prussia entered Leipzic, amidst the 
acclamations of the grateful citzens (19th October). On 
the 7th November, Napoleon crossed the Phine at Mentz, 
and two days afterwards arrived in Paris. 

Campaign of 1814 — Invasion of France. — Another 
period of war was about to scourge the nations of Europe. 
Yet the naked sword of vengeance was now visibly sus- 
pended over the head of that iron-hearted man, whose 
insatiable ambition still urged him to further sacrifice to 
it innumerable victims. Napoleon had scarcely crossed 
the Pthine when the whole of the Phenish confederacy 
abandoned him — an example soon folloAved by Holland, 
Switzei'land, and Italy. The tide of war, which since the 



1789-1815.] INVASION OP FRANCE. 285 

revolution liad ovei'flowecl Germany and the surroitnding 
nations, was now rolled back on France itself. At the 
commencement of 1814, four armies invaded that country 
fi-om different quarters, and advanced into the heart of 
France. On the 1st January, Bliicher crossed the Rhine 
with the Prussian army of the centre, that nation bringing 
into the field 130,000 men, the Austrians and Russians, 
advancing on the Swiss frontier, 150,000; Bernadotte 
with 100,000 by way of the Netherlands. At the same 
time the Aiistrians had another army in Italy. Murat, 
King of Naples, also joined the confederates, and Lord 
Wellington was already upon French territory with 
80,000 English, Spaniards, and Portuguese. Finally, 
the German Empire placed on foot from 150,000 to 
160,000 men, in eight divisions. Half a million of men 
at least, therefore, were steadily about to hem in the 
French army, whilst the forces of the latter could not 
have amounted to so much as half the strength of its 
adversaries. 

Opposed by so many and such formidable foes, Napoleon 
appeared not to lose either his courage or his military 
genius. He disconcerted the allies by the rapidity of his 
movements, and gained several brilliant successes ; which, 
though they did not carry with them any lasting advan- 
tage, made his enemies still dovibtful of the result. On 
the 29th of January, Bliicher was attacked by Napoleon 
near Brienne so suddenly that he narrowly escaped being- 
taken prisoner. Negotiations for a peace were however 
commenced at Chatillon early in February 1814; but the 
insincerity which marked the conduct of the French com- 
missioners prevented them from coming to any conclusion. 
Napoleon had at length beaten his enemies into the art 
of conquering, so that whilst he was mano3uvring in their 
rear, the Prussians and Austrians made a rush on Paris, 
which fell almost without resistance, capitulated (30th 
March), and the Senate decreed the imperial crown for- 
ieited, and the empire fallen. Napoleon abdicated (11th 
April), and Louis XVIIL was recalled from exile to 
p.scend the throne of his ancestors. The ex-Emperor had 



28 G HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VIII- 

assigned to him the island of Elba as an independent 
sovereignty, with a pension of two millions of fiancs. The 
duchies of Parma and Placentia were settled on his wife 
and son. 

The Peace of Paris.— On the 4th May 1814, the white 
banner of the Bourbons replaced the tricolor of Austerlitz, 
and, on the SOtli of the same month, Talleyrand, the real 
head of the provisional government, signed with the allies 
a convention, with the view of aflbrding France the 
benefits of peace before a regular treaty could be pre- 
■pared. The allies, by their celebrated Declaration qj 
Franhfort (1st December 1813), had announced their 
wish to see France great, powerful, and happy, because 
she was one of the corner stones of the Euro]3ean system ; 
and they agreed, therefore, to evacuate the French terri- 
tory, according to the ancient limits of it, on January 1 , 
1792, but with some few a,dditions, partly in the Nether- 
lands, and partly in Savoy. The terms, ijideed, were so 
highly favourable to France that the veteran Blilcher^ 
amongst some other provisions, protested vehemently but 
ineffectually against the French being allowed to retail. 
the Gl-erman provinces of Lorraine and Alsace. Thus 
vanished with the stroke of a pen the fruits of twenty 
years of bloodshed and conquest ! 

Congress of Vienna — The Return from Elba— The 
Hundred Days (20th March- 22nd June).— In order to 
settle the general affairs of Europe, it had been deter- 
mined to assemble a Congress at Vienna, which was 
formally opened November 1, 1814. While the leading- 
powers were thus endeavouring to restore Europe to its 
ancient system, an event occurred which threatened to 
render all their deliberations useless. Napoleon, escaping 
from Elba with 900 of his veterans, landed near Cannes, 
in the Gulf of Juan, March 1, 1815. The army every- 
where declared in his favour, and almost the whole of the 
civil authorities readily acknowledging his cause, Napoleon 
was thus once more seated on his abdicated throne by the 
most rapid transition known in history (20th March). 
The nevAS of this event fell like a thunderbolt among the 



17S9-1S15.] 



BATTLE OP ^YATERLOO, 



287 



statesmen assembled at Vienna. The allied i)owers agree- 
ing unanimously that they would have neither peace nor 
truce with the violator of treaties, it became evident, 
therefore, that there must be another appeal to the sword, 
and both parties made the most gigantic preparations. 
The three allied sovereigns and tlie Prince B,egent of 
England launched afresh 800,000 men against France, 
and i^laced Bonaparte under the ban uf the nations. 




The tisurper had tried to rally round him the liberals, 
by proposing institutions of a nature favourable to liberty, 
and similar to those of Louis's constitutional charter. 
But he clearly saw that his real strength lay in his army; 
and it was plain, that if victory should restore his 
authoiity, all the national and civil institutions would 
again bend before his will. 

The Campaign of Four Days — Battle of Waterloo 
(18th Jime 1815).— About the middle of April, Bliicher 
marched into the Netherlands and established his head- 
quarters at Liege, and early in June he found himself at 



288 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VIII. 

the liead of an army of 117,000 men, with, which he 
occnpied the country between the Sambre and the Meuse, 
while the Duke of Wellington with 100,000 occupied the 
whole of Flanders from Brussels to the sea. Napoleon, 
with his characteristic decision and promptitude, put him- 
self at the head of 150,000 selected troops, and rapidly 
advanced against the Prussians. In the afternoon of the 
16th, Napoleon, with 124,000 men, advanced to attack 
Bliicher's position at Ligny. The Prussians fought with 
their accustomed bravery, and for five hours maintained 
their ground; but at about seven o'clock in the evening, 
a vigorous charge, lead by Napoleon in person, threw 
their infantiy into irretrievable disorder. Bliicher, at 
the head of his light cavalry, now attacked the heavy 
Prench dragoons; but as he galloped forward, cheering 
on his men, his horse, struck by a cannon-ball, fell to 
the ground, crushing the rider beneath its body. The 
remnant of his army retreated in tolerable order, and left 
no trophy to the enemy but the field of battle. On the 
same day at Quatre Bras, Marshal Ney had a severe 
struggle Avith the English, under the Prince of Orange, 
in which neither party gained complete superiority. In 
this action the Duke of Brunswick was killed — the son 
of that duke who had commanded the Prussian army in 
the war which broke out at the commencement of the 
revolution. Both these actions are memorable as the 
precursors of the decisive battle which followed on the 
18th, at Waterloo, and which terminated for ever 
Napoleon's eventful career. Never, perhaps, was any 
defeat more bloody or more disastrous than that which 
he was there destined to sustain. He had issued his 
orders, and viewed the battle from a convenient distance ; 
and an ofiicer who stood near him affirmed that ''his 
astonishment at the resistance of the British was extreme; 
his agitation became violent ; he took snufi" by handfuls 
at the repulse of each charge." At last, he took the 
officer by the arm., saying, " The affair is over — we have 
lost the day — let iis be off!" In this heartless manner, 
and thinking only of himself, Napoleon abandoned an 



1789-1815,] THE GERMANIC CONFEDERATION. 289 

army whicli was wholly devoted to liim. Such was that 
campaign of four days. 

The defeated Emperor reached Paris on the 20th Juno, 
and again abdicated in favour of his son (22nd). On the 
29th he set out for E-ochefort, in the hope of escaping to 
America; but finding that it was impossible to baffle the 
vigilance of the English cruisers, he surrendered himself 
to Captain Maitland, of the Belleroi^hon. When the allies 
were informed of this event, they decided that he should 
be sent as a prisoner to the Island of St. Helena, in the 
Southern Atlantic. There he died (5th May 1821). 

The advance of the allied army on Paris was unob- 
striicted, and altogether a victorious march. On the 7th 
July the city surrendered, and on the 8th Louis XVIII. 
re-entered it. 

Thus closed finally that succession of revolutions which 
had distracted Europe for a period of twenty-five years. 
Peace was again restored nearly on the basis of the treaty 
which had been contracted the year before, but with some 
resumption of territory by the allies on the frontiers of 
the Netherlands, of Germany, and of Savoy, all the 
provinces of Germany being restored which had belonged 
to her before the revolution, and had been torn from her 
during the wars that followed it. It was also provided 
that an allied army of 150,000 men should occupy, for 
the space of three or five years, a line of fortresses from 
Cambray to Alsace; the possession of which would enable 
them, in any case of necessity, to march upon Paris with- 
out opposition. This army was to be maintained wholly 
at the expense of France, and Prance agreed also to pay 
700,000,000 of francs, to be divided in difterent portions 
among the allied powers, as a partial indemnification for 
the expenses of this last contest. The definitive treaty 
was signed at Paris on the 20th Novembex^ 1815. 

The Germanic Confederation (1814-1815). — At a great 
congress of all the European powers opened at Vienna, a 
confederation of thirty-eight German states was formed 
under the ausjDices of the Holy Alliance (or league of tlio 
three' great continental sovereigns), for purposes of mutual 

T 



290 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [rERIOD VIII. 

protection; eacli state being required to furnisli a con- 
tingent of troops proportionate to tlie number of its 
inhabitants, but being in all other respects free and inde- 
pendent. That army was to consist of 300,000 men, of 
whom Austria v/as to furnish 94,000; Prussia, 79,000; 
Bavaria, 35,000; Wurtemberg, 13,600; HanoA^er, 13,000; 
Saxony, 12,000; Baden, 10,000; Hesse-Darmstadt, 6000; 
Hesse-Cassel, 5400; and the other states in the same 
proportion. Their general affairs were to be discussed at 
a Diet sitting at Frankfort-on-the-Main, under the presi- 
dency of the Emperor of Austria, In a congress held at 
Aix-la-Chapelle in the autumn of 1818, it was resolved 
by the allied monarchs to withdraw their army, as no 
longer necessary for the maintenance of order in France, 
Subsequent congresses were held at Troppau in 1819, 
Leibach in 1821, and Verona in 1822, for the purpose of 
settling the affairs of Greece, Naples, and Spain. 



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NINTH PERIOD. 

FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE FRANCO- 
PRUSSIAN WAR (1816—1870-71). 

Affairs of Germany after 1816. — There lias been little 
to relate of the affairs of Germany since the Act of Con- 
federation substituted in 1816 for the confederation of the 
Rhine (1806). While most of the nations of Europe 
were struggling for freedom or independence, the Ger- 
manic mass had long remained inert. The subdivision of 
the people into a number of petty states, seemed to damp 
the feeling of nationality and patriotism, which was also 
cowed and subdued by the immense standing armies of 
the two great military German despotisms, supported in 
the background by the Russian autocrat. 

The Commercial Union of Germany — The Zollverein 
(1818). — The German princes who were reinstated at the 
Peace of Paris, mostly neglected their promises of giving 
their subjects constitutional governments; still the pre- 
vailing spirit widely tended towards progress and union. 
A decided advance in that direction was made as Prussia 
gradually, from 1818 onwards, became the centre of a 
commercial union amongst most of the German states 
called the Zollverein, the members of which agreed to 
levy no duties on merchandise passing from one state to 
another, but to levy them only at the common frontier. 

The Gei-mans in general, as already said, were desirous 
of an extension of their political liberties, and a confirma- 
tion of them by means of constitutions, which had indeed 
been promised by the Acb of Confederation, This matter 
occasioned some serious disputes between the King of 
"VVu-rtemberg and his subjects. But the Germans are a 
people who seem little capable of initiating revolutionary 



1816-1871.] AUSTRIAN SWAY IN ITALY. 293 

movements, and require to be influenced by an impulse 
from without. Till the second French Revolution in 
1830, political demonstrations in Germany were mostly 
confined to the students of the universities. These, 
however, were mere harmless mummeries, such as the 
adoption of a particular dress, the displaying of the Ger- 
man colours, and other acts of the same kind. 

Ee-establishment of the Austrian Sway in Italy. — 
Italy had received French institutions from Napoleon. 
These liberal institutions, which the Italians had hoped 
to pi'eserve, disappeared. Four revolutions in Turin, 
Naples and Sicily were suppressed one after another by 
the Austrians. Faithful to her traditions, Aiistria assimi- 
lated the Italian jDrovinces to the German provinces. 
Milan, moreover, she looked upon as simply an old 
possession, eveiything was there re-established upon its 
former footing. The city which Napoleon had made the 
capital of Italy, lost its senate, its legislative, and con- 
sultative body, its court of r.ccounts, its ministers, great 
schools, its superior tribunals, and its army. Everything 
had to be derived from Vienna, for all important matters 
recourso must be made direct to Vienna. The Austrian 
code was resumed in all its vigour. The Italians, re- 
clothed in the white uniform, and scattered amongst the 
Austrian regiments, were obliged to stifle in their bosoms 
every patriotic sentiment; the censorship of the journals 
arrested all complaint; the police denounced it, the bas- 
tonade punished it. 

Nevertheless, the after-shocks of that great social con- 
vulsion which had agitated Europe were also felt in Italy 
as well as in Germany. The revolution in France of 
July 1830, partially stirred even the inert mass of the 
German confederation, and liberal innovations were intro- 
duced. Later on, the principles of Mazzini pervaded 
Austi'ian Italy, as well as the south of that peninsula. 
The Austrian government affected mildness, but it is 
diflicult to reconcile men to a foreign yoke. Italy, in the 
chains of the hated Teuton, was struggling to break her 
fetters. 



294 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [pERIOD IX. 

Austrian Aggression in Italy Opposed by France 

(1832). — The Austrians having quitted the Papal States 
for a short time, had re-entered them. The French 
minister, Casimir Perier, however, having determined to 
make the piinciple of non-intervention respected, sent a 
flotilla into the Adriatic, and the French troops seized 
upon Ancona. The appeai'ance of the tricolor in the 
centre of Italy was almost a declaration of war against 
Austria. The latter did not pick up the glove, but with- 
drew her troops. 

Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria (1835), — The 
imperial throne of Austria was now occupied by Ferdi- 
nand I. Francis, the last of the German and the first of 
the Austrian Emperors, after an eventful reign, which 
had commenced almost contemporaneously with the first 
French Kepublic, expired March 2, 1835. His son and 
successor would have been still less fitted for such event- 
ful times. Ferdinand was the personification of good 
nature, but weak both in body and mind, without all 
knowledge of business, and led like a child by his minister, 
Prince Mette7'nich. 

The Crown of Hanover separated from the English 
Crown (1837).— The death of William IV. of England, 
in 1837, had also vacated the crown of Hanover, and 
severed it from its connection with Great Britain. Our 
jn-esent gracious sovereign, who ascended the throne of 
these realms on the death of her uncle, was disqualified 
by her sex, according to the law of Hanover (the Salique 
law), from succeeding to that crown, which consequently 
devolved to her uncle, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumber- 
land. One of the first acts of the new King's reign was 
to abolish the constitution which had been established in 
1863, and to restore that of 1819. But the coup cV Hat 
was attended by no more serious result than the resigna- 
tion of seven Gottingen professors. 

King Frederick William III. of Prussia had expired 
June 7, 1840. Of this King it may be said, that as few 
sovereigns of modern times have experienced greater mis- 
fortunes and humiliations, so few or none more deserved 



iSlG-lSTl.] DENMARK AKi) THE DUCHIES. 205 

tlieui by the vacillation and timidity of liis counsels, 
Lis want of all political principles, and his treacheiy 
toward his neighbours and allies. His son and successor, 
Trederick William IV., began his reign with some liberal 
measures, which, however, soon appeared to be the effects 
of Aveakness rather than of Avisdom and benevolence. 

Denmark and the Duchies — The Schleswig-Holstein 
Question. — About 1846, complications began to arise con- 
cerning the Danish boundary. The old King of Denmark, 
Frederick VI., had died in 1839. He was succeeded by 
his great nei^hew. Christian VIII., then fifty-four years of 
age, whose only son, Frederick, did not promise to leave 
any posterity. In 1846, Christian VIIT., in the interests 
of Prussian policy, issued letters-patent extending the 
Danish law of female succession to the whole of his 
dominions, thus annihilating with the stroke of a pen all 
the hopes of the German party in Schleswig and Holstein. 
The Germans now began an agitation on this subject, in 
which they confounded the totally distinct rights of the 
two duchies. The latter duchy (Holstein) having an 
entirely German population, and being a member of the 
German Bxind, its afluirs came properly under the con- 
sideration of the German Diet. With Schleswig the case 
was entirely different. The duchy was ceded to Canute, 
King of Denmark and England, by the Emperor Conrad 
II., in 1030, when the boundary of the Eyder was re- 
established as the natural one of Denmark ; Avhilst Holstein 
did not come under the dominion of the Danish crown 
till 1460, in the reign of Christian I., Count of Olden- 
burg, who had claims on the female side. The German 
Bund had no right to interfere with the internal affairs 
of Schleswig. 

Matters remained in a state of agitation till the death 
of Christian VIII. (January 20, 1848), when his son, 
Frederick VII., on his accession at once gave his people 
a constitution. Denmark had remained previously an 
absolute monarchy. Since then endless disputes ensued. 
A war went on from 1848 to 1851, but this time Den- 
mark kept both duchies. In 1864, however, tmder tliR 



296 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IS. 

present King, Christian IX., disputes arose again; a war 
followed, and the duchies were given up by Denmark to 
Prussia and Austria, and again in 1866 by Austria to 
Prussia alone. The northern or Danish part of Sleswick 
Avas to have been given back to Denmark, but this has 
not been done. 

Collapse of the Austrian System of Repression 
(1848). — In 1847, the Austrians were in occupation of 
Ferrara; Pope Pius IX., who was then arousing Italy 
from its torpor, protested against the Austrian tyranny, 
but was badly supported. At Milan, the German garrison 
perpetrated odious brutalities (February 1848). The 
French minister, Guizot, contented himself with negotiat- 
ing in behalf of the victims. Thus France became tem- 
porarily the ally of an empire which only sustained itself 
by oppressing in turn the various peojiles which it held 
enslaved. But on arrival of the news of the third French 
Revolution (1848), the whole strength of that vast but 
ill-compacted empire seemed to collapse in a single day. 
Kossuth carried in the Diet at Pesth an address to the 
Emperor (March 3), demanding " a national government 
purged from all foreign influences." Prince Metternich 
now quitted Vienna for London, and the Emperor granted 
freedom of the press, a national guard, and a liberal Con- 
stitution for the whole empire. 

Effects of the French Revolution of 1848.— The 
bi-eaking out of the third French Revolution not only 
inflamed Austria and its dependencies, but set all Ger- 
many in combustion. In the smaller states it displayed 
itself in a desire for German unity, while in the Austrian 
dominions it produced an insurrection of the Hungarians, 
Slavonians, and Italians. Revolutionary symptoms first 
appeared on the banks of the Rhine. At Mannheim, the 
people assembled and demanded a German Parliament, 
freedom of the press, and the arming of the people. The 
governments of the larger middle states — Bavai-ia, Saxony, 
Hanover, alone opposed any resistance to the people, till 
Austria and Prussia were likewise observed to be in con- 
fusion. In 1848, Free Bands were organised in Switzer- 



1816-1871.] THE AUSTRIAK QUESTION. 297 

land to aid the establishment of a republic in Germany, 
Austria and Prussia concerted together a reform of the 
Confederation, but the Congress of Princes was prevented 
by Austria herself becoming absorbed in the revolution- 
aiy vortex. Riots also occurred in several parts of 
Prussia, as Breslau, Konigsburg, Erfurt. In Berlin a 
riot ensued in which two hundred persons lost their lives. 

Prussia rises into Germany (1848). — Part of the 
Prussian ministry, at least, having resolved on an attempt 
to place Frederick William IV. at the head of the new 
German nationality, that monarch lent himself to the 
project with the same feeble mixture of covetousness and 
irresokition which his father had displayed with regard 
to the filching of Hanover. On the 21st March the army 
having assumed the German cockade in addition to the 
Prussian, it was declared " that Prussia rises into Ger- 
many," and that the Princes and States of Germany shall 
deliberate in common as an assembly of German States, 
for the regeneration and refoundation of Gei-many. The 
King rejected, indeed, the titles of "Emperor" and 
" King of the Germans," which had been given him in 
one of these proclamations. But he yielded entirely to 
the demands for internal reform. The proceedings at 
Berlin on the 21st March 1848 produced a bad imj)ression 
in Germany; Frederick William's attempt at usurpation 
being received with the unconcealed scorn of all parties 
at Vienna, Munich, and Stuttgardt. 

The Austrian Question. — A new element of discord 
arose out of what may be called the Austrian question. 
The ancient House of Hapsburg showed no disposition to 
be absorbed in the new combination of the German states, 
and refused to form part of the Confederation. It thus 
became an anxious subject of speculation in Europe, 
whether the general peace could be preserved while the 
great Austrian empire was isolated from the German 
family of states, and watched with jealousy the preten- 
sions of Pi-ussia and her monarch to supremacy. An 
sijttempt was made to join Germany together imder an 
Emperor and a common Parliament instead of the lax 



298 ttlSTOBY OF GERMANY. [pERIOD IX. 

Confederation which had gone on since 1815. This led 
to a treaty between Austria and Prussia for the forma^ 
tion of a new central power for a limited time; appeal 
to be made to the governments of Germany. In conse- 
quence, however, of the relations thus brought about 
between Prussia and the smaller German states, Austria 
protested against their alliance with the rival kingdom. 
Harrassed by these dissensions, the Aveak-minded Emperor 
abdicated in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph, his 
brother, Francis Chaides, having renounced his rights 
(2nd December 1848). 

Lombardy wrested from Austria. — At the close of 
1848, it was little thought that before a few months had 
elapsed a gigantic struggle would take place between the 
armies of Fi-ance and Sardinia on the one side, and the 
army of Austria on the other; and that, as the result of 
one short campaign, Lombardy would be wrested from 
the grasp of Austria, the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and 
Modena, annexed to Piedmont, and the fii'st great era of 
Italian independence would begin. Europe was in a 
state of profound peace, and France had given no indica- 
tion of wishing to disturb it. 

Ambitious designs of Prussia. — Early in 1850, the 
ambitious designs of Prussia becoming more clearly de- 
veloped, a tx'eaty was entered into between Bavaria, 
Saxony, and Wurtemberg, for a revision of the German 
Jjiond, and, on the occasion of its signature, the King of 
Wurtemberg denounced the insidious ambition of Prussia. 
These contentions went on for several years, until at 
length the Diet of the Confederation [Bund) being re- 
established at Frankfort, things reverted to much the 
same state as they were before. 

Russian influence in Germany (1851-1856). — Ever 
since the treaties of 1815, Eussia had exercised a menac- 
ing preponderance over Europe. The Czar Nicholas had 
become the personification of a formidable system of 
repression and conquest. In Germany, he had supported 
the sovereigns in their resistance to the popular will. 
After having saved Austria by crushing the Hungarians 



1816-1871.] THE WAR m ITALY. 299 

wlio revolted against liei", lie liacl thought that the pre- 
sence of a ISTapoleon on the throne of France guaranteed 
to Riissia the alliance of England, and he believed that 
the moment had come for grasping the ever-cherished 
object of Muscovite covetousness — Constantinople. In 
the Crimean war, however, the Emperor Napoleon III. 
secured the neutrality of Austria and Prussia. 

The Crown-Prince of Prussia Appointed Regent. — 
On the 25th January 1858, Prince Frederick William, 
the eldest son of the Crown-Pi-ince of Prussia, heir pre- 
siimptive to the throne, Avas married to the Princess 
Poyal of England, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. 
As the state of the King's (Frederick William lY.) health 
did not improA^e, he signed a decree (October 7), appoint- 
ing his brother, the Crown-Prince William, regent of the 
kingdom. 

Disagreement between France and Austria. — At the 
commencement of 1859, there was great excitement caused 
by the address of the Emperor Napoleon III. to the 
Austrian ambassador at a reception on New Year's Day. 
"I regret," said the French Emjjeror, "that our relations 
with your government are not as good as formerly, and 
I beg of you to tell the Emperor that my personal senti- 
ments for him have not changed." The Emjjcror of 
Austria replied in almost the same words. During the 
following month Austria made preparation for war; 
enlai'ging her armies in Italy, and strongly fortifying 
the banks of the Ticino, the boundary of her Italian 
provinces and Sardinia, France and Sardinia also pre- 
pared for war. 

The War in Italy — Peace of Villafranca and Treaty 
of Zurich (1858, 1859). — After Russia, Austria had been 
most opposed to modern ideas. As the former had 
weighed heavily upon Turkey, so did the latter upon 
Italy. During the Crimean war, Austria had played an 
equivocal part, whilst the King of Sardinia had not feared 
to join his young army to the Anglo-French forces. That 
circumstance had made France the natural protector of 
Piedmont, and consequently of Italy, of which that little 



300 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOT) IX. 

kingdom was, as it were, tlie citadel. Thus, wlien the 
Emperor of Austria, Francis Joseph, in spite of the efforts 
of European diplomacy, crossed the Ticino, as the Emperor 
Nicholas had passed the Pruth, Finance found herself face 
to face with the new aggressor and on the side of the 
oppressed.* 

The Emperor Napoleon resumed by that war the 
secular policy of France, which consists in not suffering 
the prepotency of Austria or of Germany in Italy; that 
is to say, on the south-east frontier of France. If he had, 
as President of the Republic, contributed to the return of 
the Pope to Pome, it was not to perpetuate in the Penin- 
sula the Austrian oppression and the general slavery. 
The appearance of a French army, divided into five corps, 
commanded by distinguished generals, upon that soil on 
which French, arms, during three centuries, had left so 
many glorious traces, announced a new era in European 
policy. Italy, seeing that the moment had come for 
claiming her independence, arose at the call of France. 
Europe looked on v/ith excited attention; England with 
good wishes; Pussia and Prussia with astonishment; 
Austria and France alone remained confronted with each 
other. The war lasted scarcely two months. 

After the brilliant affair of Montebello, which frus- 
trated a surprise attempted by the Austrians, the Franco- 
Piedmontese army was concentrated round Alessandria; 
then, by a bold and skilful movement, turned the right 
of the Austrians, which had already crossed the Ticino, 
and compelled them to repass that river. Taken between 
the divisions of General MacMahon and the impei'ial 
guard at Magenta, the Austrians lost 7000 killed or 
Avounded, and 8000 i^risoners (4th June). Two days 
after, the French entered Milan. 

The Austrians, astonished at so rude a collision, aban- 

* On April 23, Austria demanded tlie disarmament of Sardinia 
in three days. That demand was rejected on the 26th, and the 
Austrians crossed the Ticino. On the 27th, French troops entered 
Piedmont, and on May 3, the French Emperor dechvred war to 
expel the Austrians from Italy 



1S16-1S71.] THE LIBERATION OF ITALY. 301 

(lonecl their first line of defence, find retired upon the 
Adda, after having vainly made a momentary stand at a 
spot already famous — Mai'ignan, and upon the Mincio, 
beyond the celebrated plains of Castiglione, between the 
two strong fortresses of Peschiera and Mantua. The 
Austrian army then thought itself posted in an inexpug- 
nable position — the great quadrilateral of Yerona. There 
the Emperor of Austria, with a new general and con- 
siderable reinforcements, had come to await the French. 
The Austrians had long studied this strategic battle-field. 
They were then 160,000 strong upon the heights, over- 
looking the village and tower of Solferino, ready to sweep 
down iipon the plain. Napoleon III. had scarcely 
140,000 men in hand, and was obliged to fight upon a 
line of five leagues in extent. Whilst the right wing 
struggled against the enemy in the plain, to avoid being 
tiTrned, and King Victor Emmanuel with his Piedmontese 
resisted bravely on the left, the centre made a vigorous 
attack, and, after an heroic struggle, carried successively 
Mont Fenile, Mont des Cypres, and lastly the village of 
Solferino. The enemy's line was broken and his reserves 
reached, before they could engage, by the balls of the new 
rifled cannon. Thereupon ensued a frightful pell-mell ; 
but at the same time a terrific storm, accompanied by 
hail and torrent-like rain, stopped the victors, and enabled 
the Austrians to recross the Mincio, leaving 25,000 behinc' 
them. The Emperor Napoleon took up his quarters 
that evening in the same chamber which had been 
occupied in the morning by Francis Joseph (24th June 
1859). 

Great excitement arose in Germany in consequence of 
the French successes in Lombardy, and which led to a 
meeting of the French Emperor and the German sove- 
reigns at Baden, as well as of the Czar and Emperor of 
Austria, and the Eegent of Prussia at Toeplitz, in the 
year following. A meeting was also held at Coburg in 
favour of German unity against French aggression (Sept. 
5, 1860). 

Results of the Liberation of Italy. — Twice a con- 



302 HISTORY OP GERMANY. [PERIOD IX. 

queror, Napoleon III. had suddenly made an offer of 
peace to his Austrian foe. Italy was free, although a 
portion of the Italian territory, Venice, still remained in 
the hands of Austria. Europe, astounded by these rapid 
victories, could not conceal its nev/ly awakened jealousy. 
The French Emperor thought he had done enough for 
Italy by driving back the Austrian across the Mincio, 
whose forces had so shortly previous occupied the banks 
of the Ticino, and he signed with Francis Joseph, at 
Villafranca, a peace the principal conditions of which 
were confirmed at the close of that year by the treaty ot 
Zurich. By that peace Austria abandoned Lombaixly 
with which France aggrandised Piedmont, in order to 
secure to herself a faithful ally on the other side of the 
Alps. The Miircio became the boundary of Austria in 
the Peninsula, the several states of which it was proposed 
shoidd fox'm a great confederation under the presidency 
of the Pope. But this plan was rejected by all parties 
interested in it, and the revolutionary movement con- 
tinued. The Emperor confined himself to preventing 
Austria from intervening. Then the governments of 
Parma, Modena, the Roman Legations, Tuscany, and 
Naples, which, since 1814, had been nothing more than 
lieutenances of Austria, were seen successively to colla,pse; 
and Italy was free to form one kingdom only, minus 
Rome and Venice. All the European powers, howevei*, 
have subsequently recognised the unity of the Italian 
Peninsula, including the two last-mentioned cities.* 

Prussian Aggression. — During the dispute between 
Prussia and Denmark respecting the rights of Holstein 

* In Milan tliere is a lofty monument, originally reared by the 
first Napoleon, called tlie Arco della Pace. Tliis triiimplial arcli 
was afterwards degraded by paltry tropliies and fulsome pane- 
gyrics of an Austrian Kaiser. These have now been replaced 
by an inscription uasiii-passed for pathos and nobility by any 
sculptured stone in Europe — the purport of which is, that when 
Napoleon III. and Victor Emmanuel II. entered the capital of 
Lombardy as liberators, ' ' Exulting Milan tore from those marbles 
the emblems of slavery, and wrote up instead that Italy v,^a3 
fre§. 



1S16-1S71.] PRUSSIAN AGGRESSION. 303 

nnci Slcswick, King Frederick William IV. tUeil (Jan. 
2, 18G1), find Avas succeeded by liis brother, William I., 
the present Emperor of Germany. Prussia, which, since 
Frederick the Great, had dreamed of reconstituting the 
Germp.n empire, knew well that she could not realise 
that object, so threatening to Europe, until after the 
military humiliation of France, and she now prepared 
the means for it with increased and untiring perseverance. 
Events were rapidly hastening on to " raise Prussia into 
Germany." 

Irritation between the Prussian and Austrian 
Governments. — Early in March 1866, a feeling of 
great irritation had sprung up between the govern- 
ments of Austria and Prussia, the ostensible cause of 
which was the question of the occupation of the duchies ox 
Schleswig and Holstein by Prussia, but the real reason 
Avas the rivalry between the two powers, each of which 
aspired to rule Germany, and found herself checked and 
thwarted by the other. Italy made no secret of her wish 
to come to hostilities with Austria, and made active war- 
like preparations for a contest which she was resolved 
to precipitate. This justified Austria in increasing her 
armaments, but Prussia chose to take offence at her pi'o- 
ceedings, and she assumed that the increase of the military 
strength of Austria was intended as a menace against 
herself. The truth is, that Count Bismarck was only too 
glad to find a pretext for quarrelling with Austria, and 
thus enable him to execute, at the risk of failure and 
ruin, the ambitious schemes of aggrandisement which he 
had long cherished for his country. 

On the 24tli March the Prussian government sent a 
circular despatch to the minor German states, pointing 
out the necessity of their coming to an immediate decision 
as to Avhich of the two powers, Prussia or Austria, they 
would side with in the struggle which the armaments 
going on in Austria seemed to render imminent. Several 
of the states thus appealed to answered by referring to the 
11th clause of the Fedei'al Act, by which war between 
German governments, membex'S of the Bund, was pro- 



304 HISTORY OP GERMANY [PERIOD IX. 

liibited, and a pacific mode of settling disputes provided. 
The Bavarian government said in their reply, that a 
federal state which, by disregarding those provisions, 
attempted to do itself justice, and declare war against 
another federal state, must be considered as having 
violated the Federal Constitution. Yet, when shortly 
afterwards, the helmets of Prussia shone over a prostrate 
Confederation, remarkable moderation was shown in the 
treatment of Bavaria by the court of Berlin. 

In the result, 17 out of the 33 states that formed the 
Bund seceded from it, and all the minor northern states, 
with the exception of the elder House of Beuss, made 
common cause with Prussia. 

Secret Treaty between Italy and Prussia against 
Austria. — Before the end of March, a secret treaty of alli- 
ance was entered into between Prussia and Italy, the terms 
of which, so far as they were known, show how resolved 
the two countries were to engage in waa.- with Austria. 
According to these, Italy engaged to declare war against 
Austria as soon as Prussia should have either declared 
war or committed an act of hostility. Prussia engaged 
to carry on the war until the mainland of Yenetia, with 
the exception of the fortresses and the city of Yenice, 
either was in the hands of the Italians, or until Austria 
declared herself ready to cede it voluntarily; and King 
Yictor Emmanuel promised not to lay down his arms 
until the Prussians should be in legal possession of the 
Elbe duchies. 

The Seven Weeks' War — Battles of Sadowa, Lissa, 
and Custozza. — In July 1866, what bade fair to become 
a European war began in earnest. Immediately on 
receipt of an adverse vote passed by the German Diet 
(16th Jvme), Count Yon Bismarck presented an ultimatum 
to the Courts of Hanover and Saxony, demanding that 
they should disarm and accejDt the Prussian project of 
reform, under penalty of war. Both courts refused, and on 
the 18th June, the Prussians entered Dresden, Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel, and Hambui-g, without apparently firing a 
shot. The King of Hanover retreated with his army to 



181G-1S71.] AUSTRIA SUERENDERS VENETIA. 305 

Gofctingen, leaving his family in the capital; the King of 
Saxony and his 25,000 men retired into Bohemia; and 
the Elector of Hesse-Cassel became a state prisoner of 
Prussia. The Germanic Confederation was, in fact, 
broken np. The rapid successes of the Prussians cul- 
minated in a pitched battle fought at Sadowa (3rd July 
1866), near the fortress of Koniggratz in Bohemia, under 
Prince Frederick Charles against the AiTstrians (the latter 
assisted by Saxon troops), under Field Marshal Benedek, 
There were about 250,000 troo})s available on each side. 
The battle raged obstinately till the afternoon, when a 
second Prussian army, under the Crown Prince, which 
had approached the battle-field by forced marches, 
appeared on the flank of the Austrian position, and 
drove them from the field with great slaughter. Thus 
defeated, the Austrians retired iipon Vienna. A naval 
battle was also fought on 20th July ofi' Lissa, in the 
Adriatic, between the Austrian fleet under Admiral 
Tegethoff", and that of Italy under General Persano. 
Iron-clad ships were prominently engaged on both sides; 
but the result of the action was disputed. A few days 
after this sea-fight, a battle was fought at Custozza, near 
Verona, between the Italian and Austrian forces, result- 
ing in the repulse of the former; the victorious general 
being the Archduke Albert. In this campaign, Prussia 
got the better in so short a time, that it has been called 
the Seven WeeM War. 

Austria Surrenders Venetia to France. — Through the 
mediation of Napoleon III., to whom the Emperor of 
Austria surrendered Venetia, an armistice was ultimately 
agreed ujion, followed by a cessation of hostilities and a 
treaty definitively signed at Prague on the 23rd August. 
By the peace which was now made, Austria was shut out 
from Germany altogether, and the kingdom of Hanover 
and some smaller states were annexed to Prussia, and 
the northern states were formed into the North German 
Confederation, under the presidency of Prussia, with a 
common constitution and assembly. 

Let us now see what was the territorial position of 

u 



306 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD IX. 

Prussia before the war, and what she gained by its suc- 
cessful issue. 

Before the war the kingxloni of Prussia consisted of 
nine provinces — 1. Eastei'n Prussia, with Konigsberg as 
its capital. 2. Western Prussia; capital, Dantzig. 3, 
The Grand Duchy of Posen, or Polish Prussia; capital, 
Posen. 4. Silesia; capital, Breslau. 5. Brandenburg, 
in which is situated Berlin. 6. Pomerania; capital, 
Stettin. 7. Saxon Prussia, in which is situated the 
strong fortress of Magdeburg. 8, Westphalia. 9. 
Bhenish Prussia. After the war, in addition to these 
territories, she incorporated into her dominions, Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Hesse-Hombourg, the duchies of 
Schleswig, Holstein, a,nd Lauenberg (these last, however, 
had been previously annexed), that part of Hesse- 
Darmstadt which lies to the north of the Maine, and the 
little principality of HohenzoUern — the cradle of the 
Prussian Royal House — situated on the borders of Lake 
Constance, between Wurtemberg and Switzerland. 

Prussian Preparations for War with France. — Still 
further territorial acquisition, the result of conquest, and 
even empire, were destined speedily to fall within the 
grasp of the House of HohenzoUern. Prussia stimulated, 
through the means of history, poetry, and science, German 
patriotism, against those whom she called in her news- 
papers "the hereditary enemy." She armed all her male 
population from 20 to 60; she reqxiired from her officers 
the most complete instruction, from her troops the most 
severe discipline ; and, by an organization which left no 
portion of the national forces inactive, by a foresight which 
utilised all the resources of science and industry, she con- 
stituted, in the centre of Europe, the most formidable 
machinery of war that the world has yet seen — 1,500,000 
men trained and armed — every man a soldier. And that 
terrible machinery she confided to be pu.t in action to men 
whom few sciaiples of justice, legality, or honour, could 
stop, since they said openly — " Force overcomes right" 
{La force prime le droit), and they acted accordingly. 

"Fi-ance saw nothing- or desired to seo nothing in ihom 



lSlG-1871.] FRENCH WAR AGAINST GERMANY, 307 

immense prepai'ations, whicli were being completed even 
on her own territory, by the minute and secret study of 
every means of action or of resistance. Ideas of peace 
and economy predominated in the legislative body; a 
blind confidence in France's military superiority, an equal 
distrust against the armament of the whole country, pre- 
vented the proportioning of the forces of France to the 
greatness of the struggle which was approaching; and, 
through the incapacity of officials and the insufficiency of 
the administrations, those which existed were badly 
handled. 

Prance declares War against Germany. — An an- 
nouncement was made in the beginning of July 1870, by 
the Spanish ministers, of their intention to recommend 
Prince Leopold of HohenzoUern Sigmaringen, a German 
prince belonging to a branch of the house widely separated 
from that which reigned in Prussia, to the long vacant 
thi'one of Spain. The personal and family circumstances 
of Prince Leopold allied him in some measure, it might 
seem, with French and Napoleonic interests. The branch 
of the HohenzoUerns to which he belonged was Roman 
Catholic; his paternal grandmother was a Murat; his 
maternal grandmother a Beauharnais; his mother was of 
the hovise of Braganza-Bourbon. It was more than five 
centuries since he and the King of Prussia had had a 
common ancestor. 

On the 6th, the Duke de Grammont said in the Frencli 
Legislature that it was undoiibtedly true that Marshal Prim 
had ofiered the crown to the HohenzoUern prince, and 
that the latter had accepted it; but the Spanish peoi^le 
had not yet declared themselves. Meanwhile, in view of 
the dangers to the peace of Europe which wei'e arising, 
Prince Leopold himself decided on giving in his resigna- 
tion, and a momentary hope arose that the threatened 
storm had blown over. It was not, however, as was 
shortly seen, when a credit of fifty millions was demanded 
by the minister of war and granted. On the 19th July, 
war was formally declared. Thus, as a finishing stroke 
of dexterity, Prussia had had th© arfe to evoke a deelara- 



308 



HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD XI. 



tion of the war wliich slie so ardently clesii'ecl, and for 
which she had been preparing for some fifteen years. 

To 700,000 soldiers moved up in fifteen days to the 
frontier, and concentrated in a small space, from Treves 
to Landau, the French opposed 240,000 men scattered 
over a line of 100 leagues. Thus, they were overwhelmed 
at Wissemboui'g, at Reichsofien, and at Forbach by an 
enemy three or four times superior in numbers, fighting 
at a distance, under cover of the woods, and covered by 
an innu.merable artillery, the range of which was greater 
than that of the French guns (4th and 6th August). The 
Emperor capitulated at Sedan (2nd Sept.), and Marshal 
at Metz (26th Oct.). Strasburg succumbed after 




a bombardment which burned the library, the museum, 
and threatened to demolish the cathedral. On the 19th 
Sept., Paris invested, fought its first battle at Chatillon. 
In detaining before its walls during more than four months 
(18th Sept. to 27th Jan.), the principal PrussiarL forces, 
it gave France time to raise herself up. All the regular 



1816-1871.] TREATY OP VERSAILLES. 309 

army, save four Algeiian regiments, was prisoner in 
Germany. It was necessaiy to improvise soldiers, can- 
nons, rifles, and commissariat. The provincial forces 
were crushed; and when, after 131 days of siege and a 
month's bombardment, famine forced Paris to lower the 
drawbridges of her forts, nothing more remained but to 
s\ibmit to the law of the conqueror. 

Treaty of Versailles. — A treaty of peace between 
Gei-many and France was, after miich patient negotia- 
tion, concluded at Versailles on Feb. 26, 1871. The 
JEmperor "William, " with a deeply-moved heart and with 
gratitude to God," telegraphed the result at once to Berlin. 
The negotiations were conducted with the utmost secrecy, 
and removed altogether from any influence likely to be 
exercised by neuti-als either for advice or guarantee. The 
only modification the Germans were understood to have 
made in the original severity of their terms was the I'esti- 
tution of the fortress of Belfort, commanding the passes 
of the Vosges, conceded, it was said, as an equivalent for 
])ei"mitting the German army to march through Paris. 
The major conditions of the Treaty were the cession of 
Alsace and German Lorraine, and the payment of a war 
indemnity of five milliards of francs (X200,000,000)— 
demands, it was thought as great as Europe would allow, 
and not unlikely to create a jDermanent feeling of hatred 
between the two countries. The payment, it was sti])u- 
lated, of one milliard, was to take place during 1871, and 
the remainder within three years from the ratification of 
the then existent preliminaries. On the 28th, when the 
victorious Germans entered Paris in triumph, the terms 
of the ti-eaty were ratified in the French National As- 
sembly by 546 votes to 107. At the same sitting, a 
formal proposal was submitted, ainid enthusiastic cheers, 
for the deposition of Napoleon III. as the pei-son ''resi:)on- 
sible for all our misfortunes, the ruin, the invasion, and 
the dismemberment of France." 

For the first time during four centuries, France retro- 
graded. In 1815, she had at least very nearly preserved 
the frontiers which her old monarchy had given her; but 



310 HISTORY OF GERMANY. [PERIOD VIlI. 

by the Treaty of Versailles (1871), a wound was inflicted 
upon her Avhich will ever bleed, by tearing away the two 
provinces, Alsace and a portion of Lorraine, which had 
never been connected with the German Empire, save by 
the most feeble ties. Strasburg had voluntarily given 
itself to Louis XIV. in 1681, and Metz to Henry IL in 
1552. 

New Political Divisions of Grermany — Recapitula- 
tion. — The events just recorded have involved an entire 
change in the political relationship of the German States 
to one another, and to the i-est of Europe. This change 
has been immediately diViQ— firstly, to the Austro-Prussian 
war of 1866; and, secondly, to the Franco-Prussian war 
of 1870-1. Its remoter causes, however, had long been 
in preparation. 

The Old German Empire — elective in its constitution, 
constantly weakened by the mutual jealousies betAveen its 
members, and the consequent Avant of unity in its dealings 
with foreign states — Avas terminated in 1806, during the 
military success of Napoleon I. With the doAvnfall of 
Napoleon, a German Confederation, composed of 39 states 
(subsequently diminished, by failure of succession and 
other causes, to 33 in number), Avas organised by the 
Congress of Vienna, in 1815. Austria, ruled by sove- 
reigns of the House of Hapsburg, which had occupied, 
during many successiA'e generations, the imperial throne, 
had the foremost place in the Confederation; Prussia, the 
second; Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Hanover, Saxony, and the 
smaller States, taking successive grades of inferior import- 
ance. A Diet, assembling at Erankfort-on-the-Maine, 
regulated the affairs of the Confederation as a Avhole, its 
dealings with foreign poAvers, &c. ; each State remaining 
(at least nominally) a sovereign power in all internal 
regards. This cumbrous machinery, after enduring just 
half a century, fell to pieces in 1866. The brief war of 
that year resulted, as already shown, in the decisive suc- 
cess of the Pnissian armies over those of Austria, gained 
on the field of Koniggratz. Prussia dissolved the then 
existing Confederation, and erected in its place a ncAV 



1816-1871.] GERJLiN UKlTY. 311 

" ISTortli German Confederation " {N'ord Deutsclier Bund), 
from which Austria was expressly excluded. All the 
States of Germany lying north of the river Maine and 
the Erz Gebirge (Luxembiirg alone excepted) became 
members of the new Confederation, with Prussia at their 
head. The increase of the Prussian monarchy at this 
time, by the absorption within its limits of some half- 
a-dozen of the smaller states, has been previously detailed. 

German Unity. — The vfar declared by France against 
Prussia, in 1870, at once aroused the German nation to 
a recollection of the sufferings which, above half a century 
previously, had resulted from former disunion, and to a 
conviction of the necessity of united action, with a viev/ 
to preserve the possible recurrence of like disasters. The 
combined action of all the German States, with the 
exception of Austria, in arms against Prance, was the 
immediate result. 

The King of Prussia created Emperor of Germany. — 
While the German siege of Paris was going on (Jan. 
1871), the various sovereign states of Germany — the 
South German, as well as the members of the lately organ- 
ised federation — determined on a revival of the Empire, 
and the impeiial crown v/as, at their joint instance, con- 
ferred on the King of Prussia, on behalf of himself and 
his descendants. King William, being in the great hall 
of Louis XIY. at Versailles, received the title of German 
Emperor from the princes and free cities of Germany, 
even the King of Bavaria playing a leading part in the 
memorable ceremonial. This was, in fact, a restoration, 
not of the Empire, bat of the Kingdom of Germany; as, 
under the ancient imperial system, the title of Emperor 
could be held only by one who was, or asserted himself 
to be, monarch of either the old or the new Rome. 
However, now that several of the German princes are 
ctilled kings, it would have been difficult to iind a more 
appropriate title than Emperor for the chief of the Con- 
federation which has kings amongst its members. The 
New German Empire unites under one rule the entire 
German nation, the subjects of Austria alone excej^tcd, 



312 HISfORY OP GEHMANY. [tERIOD IX. 

much more closely than it had been ever since the Thirty 
Years' War, or indeed since the great " interregnum." 
The sovereign rights of the various states are limited to 
their own internal affairs. 

The revival of the ancient title of Emperor of Germany, 
in the person of the Prussian monarch, was proclaimed 
to the Prussian Diet on the 18th Jan. 1871. Eai'ly in 
March the conquerors were home again. The 22nd was 
the new Emperor's birthday, when he attained the age 
of 74 years. Numerous German princes seized the 
occasion to offer their congratulations in person, and 
municipalities presented addresses. " More than four 
centuries and a half have elapsed," said the Burgomaster 
of Berlin, " since Divine Providence sent the Hohen- 
zollerns to take care of our Marches, then a prey to every 
kind of disorder. In this long time the princes of your 
Poyal House have worked and toiled for us in a spii'it of 
pateraial solicitude, and without ever resting from the 
task they had undertaken. May the Emperor who has 
extended our frontiers and added fresh laurels to our 
banners, be destined alike to promote the blessings of 
peace, and to increase and develop our welfare, liberty, 
and culture ! " The new representative of Charlemagne 
showed himself not unmindful of the Paladins who had 
stood by his side in the hour of victory; by whom the 
basis of each victory was laid. Bismarck was raised fi'om 
the rank of count to that of prince; Count Moltke was 
made a Eield-Marshal; to Yon E.oon the title of count 
was accorded. Large donations in land and in money 
Avere subsequently accorded to the heroes of the war, and 
fresh honours and titles added to those which the princes 
of the Imj)erial House already bore. 

One can hardly experience a greater sense of contrast 
than in turning one's thoughts from thecorfdition of France 
in the year 1871 — marked by ruin, discord, disintegration 
• — • to that of Germany — triumphant, powerful, and 
occupied in consolidating, by a mighty principle of 
attraction, the hitherto loosely-compacted elements of the 
national jiolicy. 



TABLE OF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 



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GERMAN PROGRESS IK LITERATURE, 
ART, AND SCIENCE. 

The comjDarative silence of the Roman liistorians on 
the subject of the civilization of the Germans, whom, in 
comparison with their own refinement, they looked npon 
as barbarians, whose commerce^ arts, and sciences were yet 
in their infancy, has led some later writers to describe 
the Teutons generally, at the period of the birth of JeSUS 
Christ, as a race of savages little diifering from the North 
American Hurons. But history, unconfronted Avith no 
direct evidence to support such a conclusion, is justified 
in drawing other deductions from indisputable facts j)oint- 
ing in a contrary direction. 

It may be ir^ferred v,dth much greater reason that the 
Germans, who, about the time of Our Saviour, were 
able with rude arms and simiDle tactics to make head 
against the Romans, trained in war by 500 years of 
struggles against the whole of the then known woi-ld; 
that a peoi^le who held marriage, the domestic hearth, 
and the national honour as sacred, could not have been 
in the state of barbarism thus represented. 

Agricultvire, and the care of flocks and herds, pre- 
suppose a certain rural economy, and even necessary 
implements. However simple they might be, the Ger- 
man, by fabricating them himself, must have known how 
to work in iron, and equally so for the forging of his 
weapons. It is difficult to cast iron, and its manipulation 
is no easy labour. It is possible indeed that the Teutons 
only used foreign ore, and thus had no occasion to mine 
the movmtains in order to find it. Tacitus, however, 
speaks of iron mines in Gothland, now Silesia; but 
helmets and coats of mail were imknown among them 
until they concjuered the Romans, and clothed themselves 
in their spoils. Tlieii" weapons Avere the spear and the 
long two-handed sword; and for defence they carried on 
the left arm a buckler of painted wood or osier, four or 



MUSICAL SCIENCE. 315 

five feet long, and two in breadth. In their expeditions 
and battles, particularly in those of the Cimbri, we hear 
of waggons and carriages in great numbers, in which they 
carried their wives and children, and with which they 
entrenched their canips. At the same period the Ger- 
mans navigated vessels upon the rivers and sea coasts, and 
even gave battle to the Romans in ships. The art of 
spinning and weaving wool cannot be carried on without 
a certain description of tools and machines; it was, how- 
ever, the daily occupation of the women. If the art of 
hovise-building had not yet far advanced, there was never- 
theless an essential difference between the hut of the 
serf, and the abode of the man of distinction, as history 
describes them. It seems even probable that they used 
stone in their constructions, since they had cellars or 
vaults ill which provisions were kept. These must 
necessarily have been supported by walls. 

Traffic and Commerce were not unknown amongst the 
ancient Grermaiis; and they were acquainted with money. 
Tacitus remarks that they knew very well how to dis- 
tinguish the different sorts, and that for the small ex- 
changes they preferred silver to gold. Great quantities 
of Roman coins, found buried in the ground, prove that 
their commerce must have been considerable; although, 
indeed, it must be owned that the Germans had taken 
much booty in the victories over the Romans. Arminius 
(Hermann), before the battle of Idistavisus (a.d. 16), 
offered 200 sesterces a day to each Roman deserter. 

Musical Science was limited to war songs, and the 
rude instruments before spoken of (see Introduction) ; 
and they had certain heroic chants for festive occasions. 
It cannot be doubted that the early days of Germany 
could boast of their enthusiastic bards and minstrels, as 
in an earlier time the Greeks had had their Homer. 
Tacitus, indeed, tells us so, and if his testimony were 
wanting, the ideas of glory and grandeur diffused among 
the German people would sufficiently indicate it. The 
art of writing, however, was as yet wholly unknown to 
them. 



316 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

Fire-Burial. — In the dawn of history, in the countries 
north of the Alps, we find fire-burial, even as among the 
Hindoos, the Greeks, and the Romans, also among the 
other branches of the Aryan race in Europe — among the 
Kelts, the Germans and the Sclavonians. When Csesar 
Avarred in Gaul, he observed that the natives practised 
cremation to the fullest extent. The funeral ceremonies 
of the Gauls are described by him as "magnificent and 
costly." Those of the Germans, on the contrary, were of 
a simpler kind, according to the testimony of Tacitus. In 
his concise phraseology, Tacitus takes fire-burial as a self- 
understood Germanic custom. He consequently only 
lays stress on the fact of the simplicity of a German 
funeral being but slightly deviated from in the case of 
their chieftains, for whose incineration '-'special kinds of 
wood" were set apart. 

The Thuringians of Germany burnt their dead down 
to the 7 th century. In an epistle of Winfried (or Boni- 
face), the so-called Apostle of the Germans, the custom 
of incinei'ation among the Saxons is referred to, Charle- 
magne, who displayed such zeal in fighting against the 
pagan and freedom-loving hosts of Witakind that on a 
single day he had nearly 6000 prisoners of war decapitated, 
whilst at other times he drove the vanquished rebels by 
shoals into the rivers there to be baptised — Charlemagne 
made a special enactment against cremation: " If any one 
lets the body of a dead person be consumed by fire, and 
the bones be reduced to ashes, according to the rites of 
the heathens, he shall sufier capital punishment. " (Cap. 
vii). Although there is no direct testimony for cremation 
among the Goths of Ulfilas, yet, as Grimm has shown, 
we are fully warranted in concluding that they too had 
practised fire-burial. The fact is, when fire-bux'ial as a 
sanitary practice, founded on a religious ordinance, was 
abolished by the introduction of a new creed, the pyre 
and the hurdle were retained as modes of criminal i:>nnish- 
ment, or for the purpose of laying ghosts or wraiths to 
rest ! * 
* Karl Blind on Dr. Jacob Grimm's masterly sj)ecial treatise. 



CHARACTER OF THE TEUTONIC LAWS. 317 

Conversion of the Teutons to Christianity. — In 

those districts of the Rhine and Danube, occupied by the 
Romans, there had sprung up a number of municipia 
(cities) in which tlie luxury, language, and laws of Rome 
exclusively prevailed. From these cities, after the recog- 
nition of Christianity by Constantino, its doctrines spread 
over the rest of Germany at first slowly; for it was 
xmpalatable to the revengeful spirit which was a marked 
feature both in the political and social temperament of the 
Teutons. A great jDortion of the Goths, however, seemed 
to have embraced Christianity even before the conversion 
of Constantino; for at the Council of Nice in 325, at 
which that Emperor presided, there were present Gothic 
bishops. Other races of Teutonic origin yet remained in 
a condition of Pagan barbarism until converted by the 
Anglo-Saxon monk, Winifried, or Boniface, whose mission 
has been noticed in the first period of this history (718- 
775 A.D.) 

Barbaric Character of the Teutonic Laws. — The laws 
of the Teutons show how backward they were in civiliza- 
tion even as late as the fifth and sixth centuries. Murdei 
was not looked upon as a great crime, unless it were 
accompanied by cowardice and treason; and every kind 
of murder might be expiated by a fine. 

For the murder of a free barbarian, companion, 

or leude of the King, killed in his own dwelling Sols. 
by an armed band, among the Salians, . . 1500 
The Duke among the Bavarians, the Bishoj) 

among the Alamans, . . . . . 900 

The relatives of the Duke among the BaA'arians, . (340 
Every leude of the King, a count, a priest, or 

judge free born, COO 

A deacon among the E-ipuarians, . . , 500 

The Salian or Bipuarian freeman, . . . 20O 
The barbarian freeman of other trioes, . . 160 
The slave (a good workman), .... 150 

The Roman proprietor, 100 

The manumitted slave, SO 

The blacksmith slave, .50 

The serf of the King's church and the Pvoman 

tributary, 45 

The swine-herd, 30 

The slave among the Bavariansw . k » i 20 



318 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

Ill tlie earlier times there existed no laws, save those 
of usage; but, by degrees, written codes were introduced, 
composed in Latin, the German language being still too 
rude and unformed for that purpose. There was another 
kind of law, Avhich has been called " poetical legislation," 
namely, the embodying legal abstractions, or subjecting 
them to the evidence of the senses. The rendering sensible 
we conceive to belong to the earliest state of society, and 
gradually to assume the symbolical character as a nation 
advances in civilization. At all events, this seems to 
have been the course of things in Germany. "When 
possession of land was given by a clod of earth from the 
ploughed field, a turf from the meadow, a branch of a 
forest tree from the wood, and of a fruit tree or vine 
from the orchard or vineyard to be delivered, these acts, 
although considered as partly symbolical by Grimm,* 
appear, at least in the earlier times, simple modes of 
rendering the delivery evident and sensible, without 
troubling the court of justice, or the summoning of 
numerous witnesses. The similar use made by the 
Romans of turf, etc., appears to have been purely sym- 
bolical, inasmuch as a turf cut from the nearest grass- 
plot, we believe, delivered an estate in Asia. So was 
amongst the Germans the straw, when a straw picked 
up in the road, supplied the place of the turf, etc. It 
was plainly a mere abstract idea, not being like the other 
things necessai'ily a part of the property delivei'ed, but 
gathered anywhere. Moreover the word stipulatio seems 
to indicate its Latin origin ; and as its instrumentality 
in delivering possession is found only amongst the Franks, 
or the countries that once owned their authority, it is 
not unlikely that they might adopt it from their Eoman 
siibjects. But the mode of employing it became more 
picturesque under the influence of German imagination. 
A man who wished to transfer or bequeath an estate 
to a person not of his blood, flung a straw into the 
bosom of him to be endowed, or into that of the lord who 
gave it over to him; the straw was thenceforward care* 
♦ ^tutonk Legal AndqulUm By Dn Jjioob Grimmi 



CHARACTER OF THE TEUTONIC LAWS. 319 

fally pi'eserved as a voucher for the transaction. A 
straw was otherwise symbolically used. Breaking a 
straw was a form of engagement as solemn and irre- 
vocable as the striking of hands, which bears a peculiar 
name in almost every Teutonic language, and is still 
j)ractised among the lower orders in Germany as it is in 
England.* 

Amongst various fanciful forms of transacting which 
appear to blend two characters, some few are worth 
noticing. The ado2:)tion of a son was effected in Lom- 
bardy by the adopter's trimmi-ng, for the first time, the 
beard of the adopted; in Scandinavia, by his giving him 
his shoe to put on. This form seems to have implied a 
recognition of the shoe-proprietor's authority; and, as such, 
was reqiiired from a bride, who completed the marriage 
ceremony by putting on the bridegroom's shoe. Taking 
the keys from a wife was equivalent to a divorce; and a 
widow freed herself from her deceased husband's debts by 
throwing his keys into his grave, which Avas a virtual 
abandonment of her claims upon his property. 

We entirely lose sight of symbols, and return to the 
senses, and the act of the party most concerned, in the 
custom of giving land in quantities measured by the 
receiver's riding, driving, or crawling over or round it, 
during some determinate period of time, as whilst the 
royal donor bathed, or took his after-dinner nap. This 
custom, however, was not peculiar to the Germans. We 
find grants almost literally similar in Herodotus, in Livy, 
and in Oriental history or fable; and, in spirit, they 
resemble Dido's purchase of the land a bull's hide would 
cover, which, indeed, was often literally copied by Ger- 
man candidates for real property. It went out of fashion, 
probably from the constant cheating to which it seems 
to have given bii'th. A prince of one of the most heroic 
families in Germany, the Guelphs, and consequently an 
ancestor of the sovereign of the British Empire, having 
obtained from the Emperor Louis the grant of as much 

* Schiller, in his William Tell, says, "The peasant's hand- 
stnUe pledgss a man'a worfli' 



320 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

land as lie could either plough with a golden plough or 
drive a golden waggon round, it is not clear which, 
during his imperial majesty's noontide slumber, fairly, or 
rather unfairly, put a golden toy-waggon or plough into 
his pocket, and rode full gallop with what seems to have 
been relays of horses. 

This mode of granting land originated, probably, in the 
ordinary form of taking possession of domains, whether 
inherited or otherwise acquired, by riding over them. 
Even kings were frequently bound thus to ride round or 
over their kingdoms, after- having, upon their succession 
or election, been lifted on high upon a shield, and thus 
exhibited to their people for their approbation or homage 
— a practice, by the way, borrowed from the Germans by 
the Romans, when their armies came to consist princi- 
pally of Germans. 

Characteristics of the Feudal System in the Germanic 

Empire. — The interminable dependence and superiority 
in vassalage of the feudal system, however revolting to 
the enlightened love of liberty of the nineteenth century, 
had in it something venerably patriarchal ; but it is the 
dark side of feudalism. That the unfree, or the whole of 
the infeiior classes collectively, were cruelly and unreason- 
ably degraded, is undeniable. The very appellation of 
the better class of villeins (litus) seems to have been vitu- 
perative, as derived from the adjective " lazy." Other 
denominations of the unfree imply obedience and subjec- 
tion. The unfree were distinguished from the free by 
their names, or rather their want of family names, by the 
colour and shape of their clothes, and by the cutting of 
their hair. The long hair, which was the distinctive 
characteristic of the Merovingian kings, seems at one 
time or other to have been common to all nobles, if not 
to all freemen, as there are laws of sevei-al old nations 
extant against cropping long-haii'ed children without 
their parents' consent, and against letting the hair of the 
unfree of either sex grow. In fact, the long hair of the 
higher ranks seems to have been held in almost equal 
honour with the beard ! a woman swore, if not by her 



FEUDAL SYSTEM, 321 

/■•• ^ 

tresses, yet holding tliem in liei' left hand, whilst her 
right was laid iipon her bosom; and some of the old 
Scandinavian legends record the anxiety of heroes at the 
block to preserve their hair from being soiled with blood 
by their decapitation. Further, the unfree had no wergeld, 
or fixed damages, for their murder; but their lives were 
not, therefore, unprotected, except against their master. 

The patriarchal indulgence, modifying the harshness 
of the feudal system, is pleasingly displayed in the partial 
relaxation of one of its generally harsher features — the 
game laws. 

In the laws respecting the treatment of strangers the 
admixture of the kindly and severe spirit appears. 
Travellers were not only entitled to hospitality, but 
whilst journeying were permitted to cut wood for the 
repair of their conveyance, whatever that might be, to 
feed their tired horses with grain, corn, and grass, or hay 
from a stack; to gather fruit for themselves, and even to 
catch fish, provided they lighted a fire, and dressed and 
ate it upon the spot. But if they remained a year and a 
day in one place, they forfeited the rights of freemen, be- 
coming the property of the lord of the soil. 

But nowhere does this mixed character appear moi-e 
strongly than with regard to criminals. Whilst the 
punishments awarded to guilt are fearfully sanguinary, 
and sometimes so disgustingly atrocious as to be almost 
indescribable, there is always to be discovered an evident 
disposition to enable the culprit to escape; Hanging 
between wolves and dogs upon a leafless tree, burning, 
boiling, flaying, impaling, every kind of mutilation, 
tarring and feathering, casting to wild beasts, were the 
ordinary doom, when offences were not compounded for 
by a sum of money. Cowards were drowned, or rather 
smothered, in mud. Removers of boundary stones were 
buried up to the neck in the earth, and ploughed to death 
with a new plough by four unbroken horses, and a plough- 
man who had never before turned a furrow. Forest 
burners were seated at a distance from a fire of a certain 
magnitude, to which their bare feet were turned till tho 



322 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

soles dropped of. But tlie most horrible punishments 
awaited him who was detected in barking trees. His 
navel was dug ou.t, and nailed to the injured tree, round 
which he was driven, dragging out his own bowels, and 
winding them upon it in lieu of the despoiled bark. And 
this whilst every injury to a fellow-creature, even murder, 
might be expiated with a sum. of money. 

The Dawn of German Literature (771-800)— From 
Charlemagne to the Accession of the Swabian Dynasty. 
— The reign of Charlemagne may be considered as the 
commencement of German literature, although there are 
some fragments of translations from ecclesiastical books 
which were made probably prior to that epoch. Charle- 
magne, who was very anxious to promote the cultivation 
of his native language, introduced German names of 
months. He ordered the scattered monuments of the 
Teutonic language, particularly laws or customs, and 
songs, to be collected. He also ordered the ministers of 
religion to preach in German, and directed the translation 
of several things from the Latin for the information of 
the common people. It is impossible to know whether 
the songs collected by the order of Charlemagne were of 
the same kind as those which, according to the descrip- 
tion of Tacitus, were in vise among the Germans about 
the beginning of our era, or to form any corx-ect idea of 
them, as the collection is entu'ely lost. The two most 
ancient German poems are, the " Lay of Hildebrand and 
Hadubrand," and the "Prayer of Weiszenbrun," which 
have been published by Grimm, and which belong to the 
eighth century. 

After the reign of Charlemagne, the Christian religion 
being established throughout all Germany, many frag- 
ments of the Bible and some ecclesiastical wr'itings were 
paraphrased from the Latin into the vulgar tongue. The 
separation of the Gei-manic Empire from the Frankish, 
which took place in the middle of the ninth century, 
acted beneficially on the national language and literature. 
The earliest known German poem of that time is a song 
written in commemoration of the victory which Louis III. 



GERMAN POETRY. 323 

of France gained over the Normans in 881. But tlie most 
remarkable production is the metrical paraphrase of the 
Gospels by Ottfried, a Benedictine monk, made about 870, 
which shows an uncommon poetical genius in the author, 
who had to contend with all the difficulties presented by 
a rude and uncultivated language. 

German Poetry — The "Minnesingers — From the 
Accession of the Suabian Dynasty to the Reforma- 
tion of Luther (1137-1517).— The reign of the Emperors 
of the Suabian family of Hohenstauffen is the golden age 
of the I'omantic or chivalrous poetry of Germany. This 
poetry being written in the Suabian dialect, which came 
into fashion through the influence of the reigning family, 
is generally called the Suabian. Germany at that time 
had made great progress in civilization, particularly by 
its frequ.ent intercourse with Italy, which was owing to 
the expeditions of the Emperors to that country. This 
circumstance led to an acquaintance with the Troubadours 
of Provence; and the Crusades also, which brought the 
Germans into contact with the more civilised nations, 
such as the Greeks and Saracens, powerfully contributed 
to advance the intellectual development of the nation, 
and to exalt its chivalrous spirit. The poets of that period 
are known under the name of Minnesingers, from the old 
German word minne, which signifies "love." They may 
be compared in many respects with the Troubadours of 
Provence, and were generally knights and nobles, whose 
life was divided between the occupations of love, war, and 
devotion, which inspired their poetical effusions with 
tender, noble, and pious feelings. They lived chiefly at 
the courts of German princes, who were fond of poetry, 
and many of whom were poets themselves. Such were, 
among others. Emperor Ei'ederick II., Leopold IV., Duke 
of Austria, Henry Margrave of Misnia, Herman Margrave 
of Thurginia, etc. The court life, which was spent amidst 
tournaments and splendid entertainments of every kind, 
gave to their poetry a high degree of refinement and 
brilliancy. The decline of chivalry pvit an end to the 
Minnesingers, and the art of poetry descended from the 



324 HISTORY OP GERMANY. 

nobles to the burghers of cities; welfare and civilization 
being secured by their fortified towns, gave them a decided 
advantage over the nobles, who abandoned themselves to 
the greatest excesses, and lived in a most lawless state, 
being constantly engaged in mutual feuds and depreda- 
tions during the troubles which agitated the German 
empire in the latter part of the thirteenth century, after 
the death of Frederick II. 

Downfall of Chivalry through the use of Gunpowder. 
— Europe, during the fifteenth century, had become ripe 
for great reforms which, their results once obtained, were 
calculated to change widely the social condition of the 
masses. The use of gunpowder, an invention attributed 
to Swartz, had already caused such an innovation in the 
art of war as to bring about the downfall of chivalry, an 
institution which had existed for centuries, and lai-gely 
modified the middle ages. The art of printing, combined 
with the invention of paper made from flax, creating a 
new means of communicating ideas, it became possible to 
act upon men's minds from one end of Europe to another 
with astonishing rapidity. The discovery of a new world, 
and a route by sea to the East Indies had wholly changed 
the paths of commerce; so that all the activity and power 
that followed in her train were exchanged between nations 
Avhich, until then, were scarcely known to each other. 
Diplomacy, and political science in government, taking 
their rise chiefly in Italy and France, assumed quite 
novel forms. Good faith was sacrificed to interest, and 
self-interest became the fundamental law in the alliances 
or enmities of states. Thus, in the mutual relations of 
nations, another law governed than that which was 
exjDected to control the mutual relations existing between 
individuals. 

The Influence of Classical Studies and Natural 
Philosophy on German Theology. — The dead-letter 
spirit, prevalent in Germany among the Lutherans, 
having again degraded theology to mere scholasticism, 
and not only maintained but strengthened the ancient 
superstition of the multitude (as, for instance, in 



ADVANCE OF GENERAL EDUCATION, 325 

respect to witchcraft), had gradually vanished as know- 
ledge was increased by the study of the classics and of 
natui'al philosophy. Halle became for this second period 
of the Reformation what Wittenberg had been for the 
first. As Luther formerly struggled against the monks 
and monkish superstition, Thomasius (a.d. 1728) com- 
bated Lutheran orthodoxy, overthrew the belief in witch- 
craft, and reintroduced the use of the German language in 
the cathedral service, whence it had been long expunged. 
He was succeeded (a.d. 1754) by the philosopher Wolf, 
the scholar of the great Leibnitz, who beneficially en- 
lightened the ideas of the theological students. Before 
long, the ci'itical study of the Bible, and a positive 
divinity, which sought to unite the Bible with philosophy, 
prevailed. The founders of this school were Michaelis 
at Gottingen, Semler at Halle, and Ei'nesti at Leipzig. 
Mosheim at Berlin, and Gellert at Leipzig greatly ele"s^ated 
the tone of morality. 

The Advance of General Education, Art, and Science. 
— In proportion as the universities shook off the yoke im- 
posed by theological and juridical ignorance (as evidenced 
by the trials for witchcraft), the study of philosophy, 
languages, history, and the natural sciences gained ground. 
A wide range was thus opened to learning, and a spirit 
of liberality began to prevail, which, as the first effect of 
its cosmopolital tendency, completely blunted the patriotic 
feelings of the German, by renderiog his country a more 
secondary object of interest arid inquiry. 

The struggle between modern ideas and ancient usage 
began also in the lower academies. Kousseau proposed 
the fundamental transformation of the htiman race, and 
the creation of an ideal people by means of education. 
John Basedow attempted to put his novel plans of educa- 
tion into practice by the seminary, known as the " Philan- 
thropium," established by him at Dessau, in which many 
excellent teachers were formed, and by which great good 
was effected. The new plans of education, adopted by 
a few private establishments, and recommended in the 
numerous new publications on the subject, more parti- 



326 History op Germany, 

cularly owed their gradual adoption to the tutors, who, 
in their freer sphere of action, bestowed their attention 
upon the arts most tiseful in practical life, and, out of 
respect for the parents, introduced a more humane treat- 
ment of the children. 

Private and individual efforts would, however, have 
but little availed without the beneficial reformation that 
took place in the public academies. In England, the 
study of the ancient classics, so well suited to the stern 
character and liberal spirit of the j)eople, had produced 
men noted for depth of learning, by whom the humanities 
and the spirit of antiquity were revived. Their influence 
extended to Hanover. At Gottingen, Heyne created a 
school, which opposed the spirit to the dead letter, and, in 
the study of the classics, sought not merely an acquaint- 
ance with the language, but also with the ideas of ancient 
times, and Winckelmann visited Italy in order to furnish 
Germany with an account of the relics of antiquity, and 
to inspire his countrymen with a notion of their sublimity 
and beauty. The attention of the student was drawn to 
mythology, to ancient history, and an acquaintance with 
the lives of the ancients led to the knowledge of modern 
history and geography. 

Political Science. — The Dutch took the lead in political 
science. As early as 1638, Althausen laid the majestas 
Ijopuli down as a principle, and Hugo Grotius laid the 
first foundation to the law of nations; and the jealousy 
between the houses of Hohenzollern and Hapsburg f)er- 
mitted Pufendorf, a Brandenburg privy-counsellor, to 
commence a tolerably liberal criticism on the German 
constitution. 

Mathematics and General Science.— The study of 
the mathematics was greatly promoted by Liebnitz, the 
inventor of differential calculus, and was carried to higher 
perfection by Lambert of Alsace, by the family of 
Bernouilli of Basle, Euler, etc. The Germans made 
great discoveries in astronomy. Scheiuer (a.d. 1650) 
discovered the spots in the sun; Hevel (a.d. 1687) and 
Dorfel fomad out the paths of the comets; Eimmart of 



dHEMlS^R-?, BOTANY, AND PHAUMACOLOGY. 327 

Kuremberg measured several of the fixed stars. Herschel 
(born A.D. 1740, died a.d. 1822) discovered, with his 
giant telescope in England (a.d. 1781), the planet Uranus, 
nebulous stars, planetary nebulae, etc. Huygens improved 
the telescojie, Lowenhoek and Hontsoecker the micro- 
scope (in Holland). Lieberkiihn of Breslau invented 
the solar microscope; Tschirnhausen, burning-glasses; 
Snell discovered the laws of refi'action. The study of 
physics was greatly promoted by Otto von Guericke, 
burgomaster of Magdeburg (a.d. 1686), the inventor of 
the air-pump and of the electrifying machine; by Sturm 
(a.d. 1703), the founder of experimental physics; by 
Fahrenheit, who (a.d. 1714) invented the thermometer; 
by Kercher, the inventor of the speaking trumpet; by 
Hansen, who improved the electrifying machine. 

Chemistry.— Among the chemists, before whose science 
alchemy fled, Glauber, who gave his name to a celebrated 
salt, Becher, Stahl, Brand, the discoverer of phosphorous, 
and Gmelin merit particular mention. Werner acquired 
great note as a mineralogist at the close of the eighteenth 
century. ->>- 

Botany was industriously studied by Haller of Switzer- 
land, KleiD, the noted travellers Pallas, Blumenbach, 
and Bechstein, were celebrated as zoologists. Geography 
and natural history were greatly promoted by travels, 
undertaken for scientific purposes. Eeinhold and George 
Forster accompanied Cook round the world (a.d. 1716). 
Carsten Niebuhr was the most celebrated among the 
travellers in Persia and Arabia. Pallas and Gmelin 
explored Siberia. 

In Pharmacology the Germans have done more than 
any other nation; after them the Dutch. Helmont, 
although not free from the alchemical prejudices of his 
age, did much good by his dietary method, all diseases, 
according to him, proceeding from the stomach. Hermann 
Boerhaave, the most eminent physician of his time, en- 
couraged by the anatomical discoveries of Lowenhoek 
and Buysch, carefully investigated the internal formation 
of the human body in search of the piimary causes of 



32$ HISTORY OF GERMAir^. 

diseases, but was led astray by the meclianical notion 
that all diseases originated in the improper circulation 
or diminution of the humours of the body. Boerhaave's 
numerous works are, nevertheless, still regarded as text- 
books by the profession; his knowledge as an anatomist, 
chemist, and botanist, as well as the causes, nature, and 
treatment of diseases, was unrivalled. In Germany proper, 
medicine was not brought to any degree of perfection 
until a later period. The discovery of animal magnetism 
by Mesmer (a.d. 1775), was an important one, not only 
in medicine, but more particularly in psychology. It 
was first studied as a science by Gmelm, professor of 
chemistry and natural history at Gottingen, and has 
since engaged the attention of numerous physicians and 
psychologists. A mu-aculous property has been attributed 
to this discovery, which is certainly one of the most 
extraordinary ever made in inventive Germany. Som- 
mering was the most eminent of the German anatomists. 
Gall gained a transient fame by his novel phrenological 
ideas, and Lavater of Zurich by his science of physiog- 
nomy. The belief in apparitions was again spread through- 
out the Protestant world by this pious enthusiast, and 
by Jung Stilling, whilst Father Gassner, at the same 
time, about a.d. 1770, inspired the Catholic population 
of Upper Swabia with terror by his exoi'cism. 

Philosophy gave, however, at that period the tone to 
learning. The eighteenth centuiy was termed the age 
of philosophy, being that in which the French began in 
their Encyclopaedia to regard all human knowledge in 
an independent point of view, neither ecclesiastical nor 
Christian. The Germans, although borrowing their 
frivolous mock-enlightenment from France, imitated the 
English in the serious study of philosophy and philology. 
Under the protection of the King of England, Von 
Leibnitz, the mathematician and philosopher, shone at 
Hanover, like Albertus Magnus, in every branch of 
learning. His system was a union of the Christian 
mysticism of former times, and of the scholastic scientific 
modern philosophy, the result of the study of mathematics 



Art AiCD FASHION. 329 

and the classics. The gradual deviation of philosophy 
from Christianity, and the increasing similarity between 
it and heathenism, were in accordance with the spirit of 
the age. In 1G77, Spinosa, the Dutch Jew, reproduced, 
with subtle wit, the old doctrine of the mystic Weigel, 
concerning the original conti'adictions apparent in the 
world, which he explained, not by a Christian idea of 
love, but by a mathematical solution. Spinosa renounced 
the Jewish religion for that of Calvin. He afterwards 
became a Mennonist, and at last fell into the most 
dangerous scepticism, if not downright atheism. Mathe- 
matical reasoning was certainly useful for the proper 
arrangement of ideas, but was essentially devoid of pur- 
port. In England, it led to mere scepticism, to a system 
of doubt and negation, whence, instead of returning to 
the study of theology, the English philosophei's turned to 
a zealous research in psychology, in which they were 
imitated by the Germans, Platner, Reimarus, Mendelssohn, 
the physician Zimmermann, etc.; all of whom were sur- 
passed by Kant, in 1804, at Konigsberg, in his "Critical 
Inquiry into the Nature of Pure Reason," which contains 
a critical analysis of every mental faculty. 

Art and Fashion. — Although Art had, under French 
influence, become unnatural, bombastical, and contrary 
to every rule of good taste, the courts, vain of their 
collections of works of art, still emulated each other in 
the patronage of the artists of the day, whose creations, 
tasteless as they were, nevertheless afforded a species of 
consolation to the people, by diverting their thoughts 
from the miseries of daily existence. Architecture de- 
generated in the gTeatest degree. Its siiblimity was 
gi'adually lost as the meaning of the Gothic style became 
less understood, and a tasteless imitation of the Roman 
style, like that of St, Peter's at Rome, was brought into 
vogue by the -Jesuits and by the court-architects, by whom 
the chateau of Versailles was deemed the highest chef- 
cVo&uvre of art. Miniature turnery-ware and microscopical 
sculptui'e also came into fashion. This taste was not, 
howevei", utterly useless. The predilection for ancient 



330 HISTORY OF GERMANY. 

gems promoted the study of the remains of antiquity, as 
Stoscli, Lippert, and Winckelmaun jn'ove, and that of 
natural history was greatly facilitated by the collection 
of natural curiosities. 

Painting. — The style of painting was, however, still 
essentially Gennan, although deprived by the Reforma- 
tion and by French influence of its ancient, sacred, and 
spiritual character. Nature was now generally studied 
in the search after the beautiful. Among the pupils of 
Rubens, the great founder of the Dutch school, Jordaens 
was distinguished for brilliancy and force of execution, 
Van Dyk for grace and beauty, although principally a 
porti'ait painter, and incapable of idealising his subjects, 
in which Rembrandt, who chose more extensive historical 
subjects, and whose colouring is remarkable for depth 
and effect, was equally deficient. Whilst certain of these 
painters, such as the two Mieris, Terbourg and Nelscher, 
Honthoi'st, Van der "Werf, and Van Loo, belonged to the 
higher orders of society, of which their works give evi- 
dence, numerous others studied the lower classes with 
still greater success, as Teniers, Ostade, and Jan Steen. 
Landscape painting alone gave evidence of a higher style. 
In the commencement of last century, landscape painting 
also degenerated, and became mere ornamental flower 
painting, of which the Dutch were so passionately fond 
that they honoured and paid the most skilful artists in 
this style like princes. Huysum was the most celebrated 
of the flower painters, with Rachel Ruysch, Von Arless, 
and others of lesser note. Fruib and kitchen pieces were 
also greatly admii-ed. Hondekotter was celebrated as a 
painter of birds. 

Painting was, in this manner, confined to a slavish 
imitation of nature, for whose lowest objects a predilec- 
tion was evinced until the middle of the eighteenth 
century, when a style, half Italian, half antique, was 
introduced into Germany by the operas, by travellers, 
and more particularly by the galleries founded by princes, 
and was still further promoted by tlie leai-ned researches 
of connoisseurs, more especially by those of Winckelmaun. 



ARCHITECTUUE. 331 

Architecture flourislied during the Middle Ages, paint- 
ing at the time of the Reformation, and music in modern 
times. The same spirit tliat spoke to the eye in the 
eternal stone, now breathed in transient melody to the 
ear. The science of music, transported by Dutch artists 
into Italy, had been there assiduously cultivated; the 
Italians had speedily sui-passed their masters, and had 
occupied themselves with the creation of a peculiar church 
music and of the profane opera, whilst the Netherlands 
and the whole of Germany was convulsed by bloody 
religious wars. On turning to the history of those neigh- 
bouring countries, it will be found that the glorious epoch 
of French literature (reign of Louis XIV.), was certainly 
a centiiry later than that of the English, whilst the 
literature of Germany, a country which now excels in 
Arts as well as Arms, is of a still later date. 



o 



R 



I K 




INDEX. 



Adalgisius, kingof Lombavdy, driven 
into exile by Charlemagne, 01. 

Adelbert, bishop of Bruneii, shares the 
regency with Hanno, his character 
and conduct, 103. 

Adolph of Nassau procures the imperial 
oown by bribery, 153; his throne de- 
clared vacant, is slain near Worms, 
15+. 

Adrian I., Pope, implores the aid of 
Charlemagne, 60. 

Adrian IV., his arrogant pretensions, 
121. 

jEgidius adopted chief of the Franks, 31. 

.(Etius conquers Attila, 30. 

Agnes (regent-mother of Henry IV.), 
troubles of her regency, 101. 

Alaric (the Visigoth) despoils Greece 
and invades Italy, 20. 

Albert of Austria (son of Eodolph I.) 
chosen by the electors to fill the 
throne vacant by the deposition of 
Adolph of Nassau, his chai-acter and 
life, revolt of the Swiss Cantons, 154; 
is assassinated by his nephew and 
other conspirators, 156. 

Albert II. of Austria (son-in-law of 
Sigismund), his brief reign of scarcely 
two years, ISl. 

Albert of Saxony, the heavy debt of 
gratitude owed him by Maximilian 
I., 191. 

Albert of Longwy, created Duke of 
Upper Lorraine, 101. 

Albert the. Bear, founder of the Mar- 
graviate of Brandenburg and the 
city of Berlin, 115. 

Albert the Degenerate, margrave of 
Thuringia, sells his territories to 
Adolph of Nassau, 153. 

Alfonso X. the Wise (of Spain) pur- 
chases the crown of Germany, 143; 
his claim set aside, 147. 

Almayne, name of, whence derived, 9. 

Anabaptists, The, seize on Miinster, 
211. 

Anne of Brittany married by proxy to 
Maximilian I.; assumes the title of 
Queeu of the Romans, 1S9; com- 
pelled to accept Charles VIII. of 
France as her husband, consequences 
of the rupture of the matriage, 190. 



Ansegise, son of Arnoulf, 4S. 

Arcadius obtains the empire of the 
East, 20. 

Ardouin, a margrave, made King of 
Italy, 94. 

Ariovistus defeated by Cfesar, 17. 

Arminius (Hermann) destroys the 
legions of Varus, 18. 

Arnold of Brescia, seeking to restore 
the ancient Roman republic, is put 
to death, 121. 

Arnould, king of Germany, defeats the 
Normans, 74. 

Arnoulf, bishop of Metz, 48. 

Astolphus, king of the Lombards, con- 
quered by Pepin, 54. 

Ataulf (the Visigoth) wrests Spain from 
the Suevi and Alains, 22. 

Attila (the Hun), his invasion of 
Europe; defeated by ^tius, 80. 

Augustus Csesar, rebellion of the Ger- 
mans against, 17; loss of his legions 
under Varus, 18. 

Augustus III. of Poland, his succession 
disputed by Stanislaus Leczinski, 257. 

Augsburg, the Diet of, 209. 

Austerlitz and the treaty of Presburg, 
274. 

Austria, the House of, loses its pre- 
ponderance in Europe, 248. 

Austrian sway in Italy, re-establish- 
ment of, 293; its aggression in Italy 
opposed by France, 294; collapse of 
its system of repression, 296. 

Austrian Question, The, a new element 
of discord In Europe, 297. 

Azzo, lord of Milan and Genoa, becomes 
aUied to the Guelphs, 99. 

Banier, the Swedish general, repeat- 
edly defeats the imperialists, 242; 
lays waste Thuringia; his retreat and 
death, 243. 

Bavaria, Duke Henry of, his attempt 
on the crown of Germany, 91. 

Berenger, duke of Ivrea, usurps regal 
power in Italy, deposed by Otho the 
Lion, 88. 

Bernard of Hildesheim, his elevated 
character, 94. 

Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, preauhea 
the Second Crusadci 116; 



334 



Bertha of Susa, queen of Henry IV., 

her admirable character, 105. 
Bethlem Gabor, prince of Transyl- 



Prince, 312. 

Black Death, The, destroys one-third 
of the population, 167. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, his campaign 
against the Austrians, 267; his im- 
petuous march upon Vienna, brings 
over Austria to sign a peace, 268; 
his policy of creating disunion be- 
tween Austria and Prussia, sud- 
denly embarks for Egypt, 269; aifairs 
to his assumption of the chief power, 
270; reconquers Italy from the Aus- 
trians, 272 : chosen Emperor, 273 ; 
humiliates the Emperor of Austria 
and deposes the Pope, 275; defeats 
the Prussians at Auerstadt and Jena, 
and their monarchy ceases to exist, 
275; wins the battles of Eylau and 
Friedland, results of the Peace of 
Tilsit, 276; his conquests, 277; Aus- 
tria rises against him, 278 ; at the 
summit of power; the Russian cam- 
paign, 279; the German campaign, 
281; campaignof 1814, 284; Peace of 
Paris, Congress of Vienna, 286; cam- 
paign of four days (Waterloo), 287. 

Boniface, St., the "apostle of Germany, 
54, 58. 

Brunehaut, queen of Siegebert, her 
crimes and terrible death, 43. 

Burgundians, The, found a kingdom in 
Gaul, 22. 

Burgundy, conquest of, by the sons of 
Clovis, 39 ; reunited to Germany 
under Conrad II., 97. 

Byzantine empire. The, destruction of 
by Mahomet II., 183. 

C^SAR, Julius, his conquests on the 
Bhine, 17. 

Campo Formio, treaty of, 268. 

Canute, king of England, at corona- 
tion of Conrad II. at Rome, 97. 

Oarloman I. (son of Charles Martel), 53. 

Carloman II. (son of Pepin the Short), 
55. 

Carlovingians, their origin, 53 ; their 
extinction in Germany, 76. 

Charlemagne (Charles the Great), his 
character and career, 56 ; his long 
wars with the Saxons, he subdues 
and Christianises them, 59 ; con- 
quei-s Didier, king of Lombardy, sub- 
dues Southern Italy, 61; his war in 
Spain, becomes Emperor of the West, 
62; extent of his empire, 33; results 
of his wars and conquests, 65; his 



death, 66; his empire rent asunder, 
72. . 

Charibert I., king of Paris, 41. • 

Charibert II., king of Aquitaine, 47. 

Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX. 
of'Prance) defeats and slays Manfred 
at Beneventum, and takes possession 
of his dominions, 144; infuriated by 
the conspiracy of the Sicilian Ves- 
pers, lays siege to Messina, but is 
compelled to retire to Calabria, 146. 

Charles the Bald (first king of later 
France) defeated at Andernach by 
his nephews, 73. 

Charles the Fat oifered the crown of 
France, 73; his character; cedes 
Friedland to Godfrey the Norman, 
and afterwards murders him, 73 ; 
purchases a disgraceful peace of the 
Normans, 73 ; his deposition and 
death, 74 ; the Carlovingian empire 
irrevocably dismembered, 74. 

Charles IV., margrave of Moravia (son 
of John of Bohemia), elected King of 
the Romans, and declared emperor by 
Clement VI., 164; from his shame- 
ful capitulation with the Pope, the 
princes are unwilling to confirm his 
election; the imperial crown offered 
to Edward III. of England; his state 
craft, the tool of papal and French 
policy, 165; among the first to flee at 
Crecy, whilst liis blind father bravely 
falls; publishes the Golden Bull, and 
imprudently places the whole power 
of the state in the hands of the elec- 
tors, 166; his character and career, 
167. 

Charles the Rash, duke of Burgundy, 
invades the Rhenish provinces, his 
daughter and heiress Mary betrothed 
to Maximilian, son of Frederick III., 
185. 

Charles V. of Austria (grandson of 
Maximilian, and king of Spain), 
elected emperor; the most powerful 
monarch of the age of the Reforma- 
tion; his career; declared enemy of 
Francis I., struggle between Austria 
and France, 204; state of Germany 
on his arrival there, 205 ; league 
against Francis I., 206; places his 
preceptor on the papal throne; the 
war in Italy; the Constable of Bour- 
bon deserts to the emperor, 207; 
Rome captured and sacked by the 
Imperialists, 208; campaigns against 
the Turks, 209; attempts the con- 
quest of France; his disasti-ous expe- 
dition against Algiers, 212; 10,000 
Imperialists fall in the battle of 
Cerisoles, 213; Philip, his son, mar- 



335 



ries Mary of England; Charles abdi- 
cates, 217; his death, 219. 

Charles I. of England aids Gustavus 
Adolphus against Austria, 239. 

Charles VI. (younger son of Leopold 
I.) presumptive heir of Charles II. 
of Spain, lands at Lisbon with Eng- 
lish and Dutch troops to enforce his 
claim, 254 ; dominions awarded to 
him by the Treaty of Utrecht; result 
of the Spanish succession war, 255; 
issues the Pragmatic Sanction; the 
last male offspring of the House of 
Austria-Hapsburg, 257. 

Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, 
chosen emperor in opposition to 
Maria Theresa, by the title of Charles 
VII., 258. 

Charles, the archduke, of Austria, 
beats the French under Jourdan, 
and compels Moreau to retreat; re- 
organises the Austrian army in Italy, 
267; his plan of operations against 
Bonaparte, 268; defeats Jourdan at 
Ostrach, 270. 

Ohildebert II. reunites Austria and 
Burgundy, 47. 

Childebert and Clotaire, their expedi- 
tions and conquests, 41. 

Childeric driven into exile by the 
Franks, 31. 

Childeric III. (the last Merovingian) 



Chilperic, king of Neustria, marries 

Fredegonde, 43. 
Christianity, the spread of, in Hun- 

gai-y, Poland, Norway, Sweden, 

Denmark, and Russia, 95. 
Christian IV. of Denmark is opposed 

in the Thirty Years' War by Tilly 

and Wallen stein; expelled from the 

empire, 238. 
Cimbri, their invasions, 16. 
Clement, Pope, declares the throne of 

Apuha vacant, and offers it to 

Charles of Anjou, 144. 
Clodion, the SaUan chief, defeated by 

.ffitius, 28. 
Clodomir slain in battle by the Bur- 

gundians, 41. 
Clotaire I., his ferocity, 42. 
Clotaire II., sole king of the Franks, 

43. 
Clotilda, a Christian princess, marries 

the pagan Clovis, 39. 
Clovis founds the Prankish monarchy, 

31. 
Commercial union of Germany, 292. 
Confederation of the Rhine, dissolu- 
tion of the Germanic empire, 274. 
Conrad I. of Pranconia, his short and 

difficult reign, 77. 



Conrad II. surnamed The Saltan^ 
elected emperor, 96 ; forces Odo, 
count of Champagne, to acknowledge 
him King of Burgundy, 97; his army 
decimated by the plague in Italy, 
98; diesof the plague, 98; important 
law promulgated by him in Italy 
and Germany, 99. 

Conrad IIL, the empire divided into 
two parties.Guelphs and Ghibellines, 
115; "takes the Cross" on Bernard 
preaching the Second Crasade, 116; 
the shame and dishonour attendant 
upon it, 117; dies at Bamberg, 118. 

Conrad IV. (son of Frederick II.), by 
his father's will inherits the crown ; 
placed under the ban of the Church, 
and his title pronounced null by the 
Pope; conquers Naples; on his re- 
turn to Germany confronted with 
William of Holland whom he de- 
feats; falls sick and dies, not without 
suspicion of poison, 142. 

Couradino of Swabia (son of Conrad 
IV.), invited to resume tlie throne of 
Apulia; attempts to drive the French 
out of Italy , enters Rome in triumph, 
144; his army cut to pieces in Apulia; 
betrayed by Frangipani of Astura, 
and delivered up to Charles of 
Anjou; his sad fate, 145. 

Constance (wife of Henry VI.), heiress 
of the last Norman King of Sicily. 

Constance (daughter of Manfi-ed), 
avenges the murder of Conradino by 
the conspiracy of the Sicilian Ves- 
pers, 146. 

Cornwall, Richard, earl of (brother of 
Henry III. of England), purchases 
the empire, and is crowned at Aix, 
143. 

Corvinus, Matthias (son of Hunnides), 
raised to the throne of Hungary,183. 

Council of Constance, The, its professed 
objects the extinction of schism, and 
reformation of the Church, 174; tlie 
close of; its consequences, 179. 

Crescentius, his insurrection against 
Otho III., and death, 93. 

Crusade, the First, its influence on the 
authority of Rome, 93. 

Crusade, the Second, preached by St. 
Bernard, 116. 

Crusade, the Third, urged on the 
princes of Europe by Gregory VIII., 
128. 

Cnnegonda, wife of Henry the Saint, 
95. 

Cunihilda (daughter of Canute), re- 
sults of her marriage with Hem-y, 
son of Conrad, 97; dies of the plagua 
in Italy, 93. 



336 



Dagobert I., king of the Austrasians, 
murders his brother, 4S. 

Denmark and the duchies, 295, 

Desiderata, a Lombard princess, mar- 
ried to Charlemagne, 60. 

Didier (or Desiderius), king of the 
Lombards, captive to Charlemagne, 
61. 

Drusus, his victories over North Ger- 
many, 17. 

EoBERT, of Brunswick, count, saves 
the young Emperor Henry IV. from 
drowning, 102. 

Elizabeth (daughter of James I. of 
England), queen of Bohemia, her 
ambitious character, 236. 

Emigrations, a series of, continued 
from 375 a.d. to 568 a.d., 20. 

Enzio (son of Frederick II.), king of 
Sicily, kept prisoner during 24 years 
by the Bolognese, 140. 

Esthonia, subdued by the knights of 
the Cross and Sword, 136. 

Eudes (son of Robert the Strong), with- 
stands a year's siege of Paris, 

Eugene, Prince, his victories, 253. 

Ferdinand I. (brother of Charles V.), 
elected King of the Romans, 210; 
succeeds as emperor; his claim to 
Bohemia involves a long war, 220; 
the temporal dependence of the 
empire on the See of Rome ends; 
endeavours unsuccessfully to effect 
a union of the two Communions, 
221 ; Council of Trent, 222. 

Ferdinand II. of Austria (son of Charles, 
duke of Styria, and grandson of 
Ferdinand I.), his dark and hopeless 
position on his accession, 235; the 
Protestant States subdued, and that 
religion abolished in Bohemia; the 
leaders exiled, or put to death, 238; 
causes Wallenstein to be secretly 
assassinated; his unjust and cruel 
policy aud character, 241; he dies, 
leaving behind an odious name, 246. 

Ferdinand III. (son of Ferdinand II.), 
.succeeds without opposition, and 
pursues his father's Une of policy, 
242; his death and character, 245. 

Ferdinand I., emperor of Austria (son 
of Francis, the last of the German, 
axiA first of the Austrian emperors), 
led by hia minster. Prince Mettei;- 
nich, 294. 

Flagellants, The, accuse the Jews of 
poisoning the wells and fountains, 
who are persecuted with incredible 

,. fury, 168. 

Fontenaille, battle of, 70. 



Francis I., struggle between, and 
Charles V., league against, 206; thf 
defection of the Constable of Bour- 
bon; taken prisoner at Pavia; re- 
leased on yielding to Charles V. the 
duchy of Burgundy, 207. 

Francis I. of Lorraine, consort of 
Maria Theresa, elected emperor, 259. 

Francis II. (eldest son of Leopold II.), 
enters into an alliance with Frederick 
William of Prussia against the 
French Republic, 264; campaign of 
the French against the empire, 265; 
the French penetrate into the heart 
of the empire, 266; by a treaty made 
with Bonaparte, France gains the 
preponderance in Europe, 269 ; 
Austria assisted by the Russians, 
270; murder of the French pleni- 
potentiaries at Rastadt, 271 ; the 
Austrians defeat the French in Italy, 
217. 

France and Austria, disagreement be- 
tween, in 1859, 299; the war in Italy, 
300. 

Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871), 308. 

France becomes the leading European 
power, 248; its influence over the 
affairs of the emi^ire, 251. 

Franconia, the House of, 95. 

Franks, The, a union of several Ger- 
manic tribes, 28; they unite them- 
selves with the Romans in Gaul to 
oppose Attila, 29; their religion the 
worship of Odin, 32; their passion 
for war, 32; division of the Frank 
monarchy between the sons of Clovis, 
38; second partition of the kingdom 
between the sons of Clotaire, 42. 

Fredegonde, queen of Chilperic, her 
fearful crimes and death, 43. 

Frederick, duke of Swabia, brother-in- 
law of Henry V., a candidate for 
the imperial crown; his relentless 
hostility to Lothar of Saxony, 113. 

Frederick I. surnamed Barbarossa, 
duke of Swabia, elected emperor, 
his personal qualities and character; 
restores the duchy of Bavaria to 
Henry the Lion, son of Henry the 
Proud, 118; settles a quarrel between 
Sweyn and Canute touching Den- 
mark, 119; compels Boleslas, king 
of Poland, to do him homage; re- 
establishes the ancient influence of 
Germany in Burgundy by his 
man-iage with Beatrice, the Bur- 
gundian heiress, 119; deputies from 
Lodi having implored his aid against 
the Milanese, he crosses the Alps 
with an army, and promptly enforces 
homage of most of the Lombard 



337 



cities; after being crowned King of 
Lombardy, he marches upon Kome, 
120; holds Adrian's stirrup, and is 
crowned by that Pope; his expedition 
against the Normans in the south 
fails through the unhealthiness of the 
chmate, ia2; the quarrel between 
Pope and Emperor; Pope and Anti- 
pope, 123 ; the rebellious Milanese 
subdued; they again revolt, andafter 
a three years' siege Milan surrenders 
at discretion, and is razed to its 
foundations, 125; is, with his con- 
sort, crowned at Rome; his army 
being assailed by a pestilence, he 
secretly quits Italy for Germany; 
his vigorous extension of the House 
of Hohenstaufen, 126 ; he crosses 
the Alps for the fifth time, and lays 
siege to Alessandi-ia, but fails to 
reduce it; suffers a defeat at Lignano 
by the Lombards, and narrowly 
escapes capture; affairs of Italy 
settled by a treaty of peace with the 
Lombards, and the Emperor returns 
to Germany, is crowned at Aries, 
127; marries his eldest son to Con- 
stance, heiress presumptive of 
Naples and Sicily; the Pope excom- 
municates the bisliops who per- 
formed the rite; joins the Third 
Crusade in his seventieth year, 128; 
leads his army skilfully to the 
frontiers of Syria, and is drowned 
in the river Calycadnus, and buried 
in Antioch, 129. 
Frederick II. (son of Henry VI., grand- 
sou of Barbaiossa) , set up by Inno- 
cent HI., who carefully super- 
intends the education of the young 
Emperor after the decease of his 
mother, Constance; versed in the 
arts and sciences, he also cultivates 
poetry, and lashes the follies of his 
day in sharp satirical verse; his 
political energies expended in an 
ever-recurring struggle between the 
Pope and the empire, 133; neglects 
Germany for his inheritance of the 
two Sicilies: launches keen sarcasms 
agains the Holy See, and is excom- 
municated by Gregory IX.; special 
circumstance which gives rise to the 
quarrel with that Pope, 134; is 
crowned by the Sultan Alkamel, 
king of Jerusalem; hastens back to 
Italy, and compels the Pope to make 
peace with him, and remove the 
excommunication, 135 ; his son, 
Henry, left in Geimany to govern 
the empire, revolts against him, is 
deposed, and dies in prison, 136; the 



Emperor marries Isaliella, sister of 
Henry III. of England: Conrad, his 
younger son, elected successor, as 
king of the Romans; Frederick de- 
feats the Lombards ai\d Milanese; 
excommunicated a second time by 
Gregory IX., 137 ; deposed and 
banned by Innocent IV., 139; his 
death; his intellectual qualities and 
attainments and brilliant court, 141. 

Frederick of HohenzoUern (father-in- 
law of Rodolph of Hapsburg), de- 
puted to invite Rodolph to accept 
the imperial crown, 14S. 

Frederick the Bitten (son of Albert the 
Degenerale), severely bitten in the 
cheek by his mother as a lasting 
reminder of her wrongs, 153 ; expires, 
worn out with toil, after recovering 
his rights, 156. 

Frederick of Austria, rival of Louis of 
Bavaria, crowned King of the 
Romans; his forces defeated by the 
Swiss; assails Louis near MUhldorf 
and is taken prisoner, and confined 
in the Castle of Trausnitz; renounces 
all claim to the empire; his mag- 
nanimity ; an arrangement to exercise 
conjointly with Louis the govern- 
ment, 163. 

Frederick of the Empty Poclet (of 
the House of Hapsburg), excom- 
municated and placed under the 
imperial ban, 180; his subjects re- 
volt, the hereditai'y castle of Haps- 
burg laid in ruins, 181. 

Frederick III. elected emperor as 
eldest representative of the House 
of Hapsburg; his long, weak, and 
miserable reign, 181; divisions in 
the empire, 1S2; is crowned at Rome, 
marries Eleanor of Portugal, 183; 
acknowledges the leader, Podiebrad, 
King of Bohemia; besieged in Vienna 
by his brother, Albert; in spite of 
his political address he is regarded 
with contempt from his inglorious 
reign, 186. 

Frederick III. (Elector Palatine),quits 
Lutheranism for Calvinism, 224; his 
intolerance; introduces the Genevan 
creed by force, 229. 

Frederick V. (Elector Palatine), marries 
Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of 
England, aims at the Bohemian 
crown, 234; elected by the Bohemian 
States: his character, 236; disgusts 
his subjects by his Calvinistic 
fanaticism ; expelled from his king- 
dom, and put under the ban of the 
empire, 237; is degraded and de- 
prived of his electorship, 238; the , 
Y 



338 



Palatinate of the Rhine restored to 
his eldest son, 248. 

Frederick 'William II. of Prussia, the 
Great, invades Silesia, 258; invades 
Bohemia fruitlessly, 259. 

Frederick William III. of Prussia, his 
weak and treacherous character, 294. 

Frederick William, crown-prince of 
Prussia (son of William I., emperor 
of Germany), married to the Princesa- 
Royal of England, 299. 

Frederick William IV. of Prussia, 
succeeded by his brother, William I., 
the present Emperor of Germany; 
Prussian aggression; irritation be- 
tween the Prussian and Austrian 
governments, 303. 

French Revolution of 1848, its effects 
upon Germany, 297. 

GALLO-Romans, The, 44. 

Gaul, state of in Sixth Century, 44. 

Gauls, their invasion of Germany, 16. 

Genseric, the barbarian leader of the 
Vandals, founds a kingdom in Africa, 
25. 

Gerald, archbishop of Mayence, bribes 
the electors to secure the nomination 
of his cousin Adolph of Nassau to the 
crown, 152; breaks with Adolph and 
procures his deposition, is reduced 
to submission by Albert of Austria, 
154. 

Germam, its signification and deriva- 
tion, bounderies, 9 ; the name first 
applied, by Csesar, 17. 

Germanic Confederation, 289; afifairs of, 
after 1816, 292. 

Gei-manic Empire, dissolution of, 274; 
the old, 310. 

Germanic nations, origin of, 10: bar- 
barians ravage Gaul, 22; confedera- 
tions, the locality of, in fifth century, 
23. 

Gei-man Unity, meeting in Cobuvg in 
favour of, against French aggression, 
310, 311. 

Germanicus, his campaigns against the 
Germans, defeats Arminius, 19. 

Germans, religion of the ancient, 14; 
emigration of the, 20. 

German tribes, religion of, 14 ; the 
barbarian laws of, 45. 

Germany, a Teutonic word, 10 ; the 
imperial crown given exclusively to, 
and thence called the Holy German 
Empire, 88; its condition after the 
Thirty Years' War, 249; new political 
divisions of, 310. 

Geisa, king of Hungary, fulfils his vas- 
salage to Frederick Barbarossa in 
Italy, 119. 



Gelimer, last king of the Vandals, sub- 
dued by BelesariuSj 25. 

George, elector of Hanover and king 
of England, a descendant of the 
Guelphic House, 99. 

Gessler, bailiff of Uri, insults the Swiss 
patriots and is slain by Tell, 160. 

Ghibellines, The, a political party who 
took part with the Emperor against 
the Popes, 99. 

Gian Gastone, last of the Medici, suc- 
ceeded by Maria Theresa in Tuscany, 
257. 

Giselle, wife of Conrad II., laments 
his loss until her death, 98. 

Godfrey, the Norman chief, obtains 
Friesland from Charles the Fat, who 
afterwards causes him to be mur- 
dered, 73. 

Gouthiam, kingof the Burgundians, 42. 

Gregory VIII., Pope, summons the 
princes of Europe to a Third Crasade, 
128. 

Gregory IX., frustrated in holding an 
oecumenical council by Frederick II., 
dies through mortification, 138. 

Grimbald, son of Pepin d'Heristal, 
mayor of the palace, 53. 

Grumbach, William de, of Franconia, 
procures the assassination of Mel- 
chior, bishop of Wurtzburg; is put 
to death, 225. 

Guelphs and Ghibellines, commence- 
ment of the rivalry of, 114. 

Gunther of Schwartzenburg, chosen 
anti-Caesar to Charles IV., poisoned 
by an,emissary of the latter, 165. 

Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, 
his secret alliance with the Protes- 
tants of Germany; his character and 
abilities ; subsidised by Richelieu to 
check the power of Austria; gains a 
victory over Tilly; is repulsed by 
Wallenstein, 239; is killed at the 
battle of Lutzen, 240. 

Hanno, archbishop of Cologne, con- 
spires to carry off the young king 
Henry IV. and obtain the regency; 
proclaims himself regent, and as- 
sumes guardianship of the emperor, 
102; his character and conduct, 103. 

Hanover, the crown of, separated from 
the English crown, 294. 

Hapsburg, the powerful counts of, 156; 
become the supporters and tools of 
the Pope, 161. 

Hengist and Horsa subdue England 
and form the Heptarchy, 28. 

Henry I., surnamed the Fowler, sub- 
dues and re-unites 1/orraine to Ger- 
many, 79; his frontier campaigus; 



339 



sangwinary conflict with the Hun- 
gariaus, 80; expedition agaiust the 
Danes, 81. 

Henry II., surnamed the Saint (the 
Bavarian), elected Emperor, 93; ob- 
tains the iron crown of Lombardy; 
his escape from assassination at 
Pa via, 94: crowned by the Pope; 
with his death the Saxon dynasty 
ends, 95; results of his treaty with 
Rudolph, king of Burgundy, 97. 

Henry, the Proud, duke of Bavaria, 
his dominion greater than that of 
the Emperor; marries Gertrude, only 
daughter of Lothar, 114; refuses sub- 
mission to Conrad III., and is de- 
prived of his duchies. 

Henry III., surnamed the Black, his 
character, defeats the Magyar nobles 
ou the Raab; convokes a council at 
Sutri, and deposes the three Popes, 
Benedict IX., Sylvester III., and 
Gregory VI., as illegally appointed; 
after Clement II. the Emperor 
gives three more popes to Rome, all 
bishops of Germany, 100; confers the 
German duchies on various princes 
from high political motives, his sud- 
den death, 101. 

Henry IV. ,troubles during his boyhood, 
102; knighted and declared a man at 
fifteen; his campaign against the 
Hungarians, 104; marries Bertha 
of Susa ; the Saxons disinter and 
insult the corpse of Henry's son; he 
overcomes them in Thuringia, and 
they surrender, 105; commences the 
interminable wars of the investi- 
tures, 106; pronounces sentence of 
deprivation on the Pope; the Em- 
peror's degradation at Canossa by 
HUdebrand, 107; his children rebel 
against him; conquered and taken 
prisoner by his youngest son; strip- 
ped of aU his possessions, and dies 
in extremity of want and desolation, 
109. 

Henry V. recommences the struggle 
about the right of investiture with 
Pascal II.; marches upon Rome with 
a large army and takes the Pope 
prisoner; the Pope renounces the 
right of investiture in favour of the 
Emperor and crowns him. 111; by 
the Concordat of Worms, the rights 
of Emperor and Pope are clearly 
defined; dies childless, and with him 
ends the SaUc or Prankish House of 
Saxony, 112. 

Henry the lion, the duchy of Bavaria 
restored him by Frederick I., 118; 
extends widely his conquests in 



Silesia and Ponierania; meets Bar- 
barossa at Chiavenna and refuses to 
join him in his campaign; punished 
by forfeiture of all his possessions 
save Brunswick and Luneburg, anil 
banishment from the empire, 127; 
retires to the court of his father-in- 
law, Henry II. of England (Plan- 
tagenet) ; his wife Matilda gives 
birth to a son, who becomes head of 
that branch of the House of Han- 
over now reigning in England, 128. 

Henry VI., eldest son of Barbarossa, 
succeeds him as Emperor, 129; in 
character cruel, avaricious, and nar- 
row-minded; his ignoble conduct to 
Richard Cceur de Lion for the affront 
to his brother Duke Leopold at Acre; 
his avarice and cruelty in Naples and 
Sicily; dies suddenly during an in- 
surrection in Sicily; in this reigu 
Styria is added to Austria, and the 
expense of fortifying Vienna paid out 
of the king of England's ransom, 131. 

Henry VII., of Luxemburg, elected 
Emperor through the intrigues of 
Peter, archbishop of Mentz; follows 
in the footsteps of Charlemagne and 
"Barbarossa and worthily upholds the 
dignity of the empire, 160; is crowned 
at Rome, dies suddenly near Sienna, 
poisoned; the empire falls a prey to 
factions, 161. 

Henry VIII. of England courted by 
the rival monarchs Francis I. and 
Charles V. 

Henry the Pious, duke of Lower Silesia, 
attempts to repel the Mongol inva- 
sion, but is slain near Liegnitz, 138. 

Henry the Iron, of Holstein, joins 
Edward III. of England against the 
French, 166. 

Honorius obtains the enipire of the 
West, 20. 

Hungarians, nine years' truce with, 79. 

Hungary, Invasion of, by the Turks, 
211. 

Huns, The, their characteristics, 29; 
their invasion of Europe. 

Huss, John, a disciple of Wickliff, tried 
for heresy and burnt alive, 176. 

Hussites, the war of, 176. 

Innocent X., Pope, declares the treaties 
of Munster and Osnabruck void, 246. 

Interregnum, the imperial crown, put 
up to auction, the whole of Germany 
becomes a scene of bloodshed, pUlage, 
and anarchy, 143. 

Italy, results of the liberation of, in. 
1859, 301; secret treaty with Prussia 
agaiust Austria, 304. 



340 



Jerome of Piague tiieii for heresy and 
burnt alive, 176. 

Jerusalere, the title of kin? of, passes 
from Frederick II. to the King of 
Naples and Sicily, 135. 

John of Bohemia, nephew of Albert of 
Austria, conspires to assassinate his 
uncle the Emperor, 155; flies into 
Italy, and is ooufiued for life at Pisa, 
156. 

John XXII., Pope, the natural enemy 
of the Ghibellines, his rapacity, 163. 

John, the blind king of Bohemia, 
bravely falls at Crecy ; the inscription 
on his sword " Ich dien" assumed by 
the Prince of Wales as his motto, 166. 

John XXIII., Pope, escapes from the 
Council of Constance, but is delivered 
up to the Emperor and Council, de- 
posed and condemned to rigorous 
imprisonment, 175; Pope Martin 
IV. receives his submission, and the 
great western schism ends, 176. 

Joseph I. (son of Leopold I.) his short 
but eventful reign; Louis XIV. hum- 
bled, acknowledges the Archduke 
Chailes as King of Spain; the war 
of the Spanish Succession; the vic- 
tories of his general Prince Eugene, 
253; his reign and character, 254. 

Joseph II. (eldest son of Maria Theresa 
and Francis of Lorraine) a cipher 
during his mother's lifetime, acquies- 
ces in the partition of Poland, 261. 
joins Catherine of Russia in a war 
against Turkey, 261. 

JiiannaofSpain (daughter of Ferdinand 
and Isabella) marries Philip, son of 
Maximilian 1., 193; imprisoned by 
command of her father, 1&5; becomes 
incurably insane at the death of 
Philip, 196. 

KoNiGSSiABK, the Swedish General, 
tiikes Prague, the last event of the 
Thirty Years' War, 247. 

Ladislaus, king of Hungary (son of 
Albert II. of Austria) universally 
recognised as King in Bohemia, but 
tlie powers of government exercised 
by two factions, 1S2. 

Ladislaus of Poland conquered and 
.slain by the Turks at Varna, 1S2. 

Ladislaus (son of Casimir, king of 
Poland) elected king of Bohemia, 
18.). 

Leopold, the margrave of Austria (ute- 
rine brother of the Emperor Conrad) 
lays the foundations of Vienna, 115. 

Leopold, duke of Austria, his dastardly 
revenge against Richard Cceut de 



lion, his death from a fall from his 
horse, 130. 

Leopold I., emperor of Germany, his 
reign and character, 251-253. 

Leopold II., condition of Europe on 
his accession, 261; terror caused by 
outbreak of the French Revolution ; 
his efforts to save his sister Maria 
Antoinette; his character, 262. 

Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 
his relations with French interests, 
Marshal Prim offers him the crown of 
Spain; gives in his resignation, 307. 

Lollius defeats the Segambri, 17. 

Lorabardy wrested from Austria, 298. 

Lothaire (eldest son of Louis the Good- 
natured) utterly defeated by his 
brothers at Fontenaille, obtains the 
title of Emperor, 71. 

Lothar of Saxony, 91. 

Lotharingia, or Land of Lothaire, now 
called Lorraine, 72. 

Lothar of Saxony, count of Supplin- 
burg, chosen emperor; renounces all 
the prerogatives of his predecessor, 
and consents to hold his crown as 
vassal of the Holy See, 113; marries 
his only daughter, Gertrude, to 
Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria, 
and gives him the duchy of Saxony: 
commencement of the rivalry of tha 
Guelphs and Ghibellines; Lothar dies 
in a peasant's hut in the Tyrol, 114. 

Louis the Debonnaire, his weakness of 
character, does penance for putting 
out the eyes of his nephew, 68; re- 
bellion of his elder sons, 69; is twice 



Louis II, (son of Louis, the Good- 
natured), suraamed the German, 
made first King of Germany, 72. 

Louis the Child, king of Germany, last 
of the Carlovingians in Germany, 76. 

Lotiis V. of Bavaria (of the Aiistro- 
Hapsburg family) an enemy of the 
Austrian princes, and an ally of the 
Luxemburg factions; he and his 
rival, Frederick of Austria, both 
crowned Kings of the Romans; in the 
victory near Mtthldox'f owes his suc- 
cess to Schwepperniann, 162; is exco- 
municated by Pope John XXII.; his 
generous conduct towards Frederick 
his rival; retains the sceptre and 
leigiis alone; the whole empire placed 
under an intei'dict; assumes the iron 
crown at Milan, deposes the Pope, and 
places on the papal throne a monk, 
under the title of Nicholas V. ; Lis 
treachery towards Edward III. of 
England, 164; killed at a bear hunt, 
105. 



341 



Luilolph (son of Otho the Lion), duke 
of Swabia, revolts against his father, 
■who deprives him of his dukedom, 86. 

Ltither, Martin, his career before his 
opposition to Bome, 199; his sermon 
against indulgeucies ; attacked by 
Henry VIII. of Englandin a treatise; 
summoned to Eonie, and afterwards 
before the Diet of Worms, 201. 

Lutheran party, The, styled Protest- 
ants, 209. 

Manfred (natural son of Frederick 
II.) occupies Naples and Sicily; is 
defeated and slain by Charles of 
Anjou, 144. 

Margaret (daughter of Frederick II. >, 
wife of Albert the Degenerate, is re- 
pudiated by him; in excess of grief 
bites the cheek of her son as a re- 
minder of his parent's wrongs, and 
dies at Frankfort, 153. 

Maria Theresa (daughter of Charles 
VI.), archduchess of Austria, queen 
of Hungary and Bohemia, and Em- 
press of Germany; her succession 
disputed; Frederick of Prussia de- 
mands the surrender of Silesia, she 
flees to Hungary, and convokes the 
Diet, 258; the magnates rise in arms 
at her appeal; she wages a glorious 
war, 259; the "partition of Poland" 
the only reproach of her political 
life; her character, 260. 

Marius, defeats the Cirabri, 16. 

Marlborough, Duke of, his victories in 
the Low Countries, 253. 

Martel, Charles, delivers France from 
the Saracens, 50. 

Mary of Burgundy (daughter and 
heiress of Charles the Rash), marries 
Maximilian I., 187; dies from a fall 
from her horse, 189. 

Marzfelder ("fields of March,") the 
Frank assemblies, 47. < 

Matilda (heiress of Boniface of Tus- 
cany), her zealous partisanship of 
Hildebrand, 108. 

Matthias (son of Maximilian II.), the 
state of Germany on his accession, 
233. 

Maurice of Saxony, death of, 216. 

Maximilian I. (son of Frederick III.) 
betrothed to Mary of Burgundy, 186; 
his unopposed succession on the 
hereditary principle; the situation 
of Germany changed on the death of 
Frederick III., 187; conse(iuences of 
the marriage with Mai7, 188, 189; 
after her death married by proxy to 
Anne of Brittany; failure of the 
marriage, 190; his imprisonment by 



" the Flemings, 101; marries Bianca 
Maria, sister of G.ileazzo Sforza of 
Milan; unsuccessful in a campaign 
against Florence, 192 ; relations of 
Germany and Spain; he founds the 
Auhc Council, 193; defeat of his 
army by the Swiss, 194; cedes Milan 
to France, 196; the treaty of Blois; 
defeated by the Venetians; his de- 
cline and death, 197. 

Maximilian II. (son of Ferdinand I.), 
his character and extraordinary ac- 
quirements, 223; his policy towards 
the Elector Palatine, 224; his waning 
influence and death, 226. 

Mayors of the palace, 48. 

Meroveus, the first Merovingian king. 
29. 

Merovingian kings, their characteris- 
tics, 51. 

Merovingian empire, decadence of, 48. 

Jliddle Ages end with Maximilian, 202. 

Modern history, commencement of, 202. 

Mongols, The, overrun Germany, 138. 

Montebello, the brilliant battle of, 300. 

Nelson, Lord, disavows the capitula- 
tion of Naples to the Anstrians, 271. 

Nicephorous, the Greek usurper, in- 
sults Charlemagne, 64. 

Normans, The, make a piratical descent 
upon Friedland, 65 : they establish an 
independent dukedom in Normandy, 
73. 

Oath, The Strasbnrg, 71. 

Odillon, abbot of Cluny, organises the 
"Truce of God," 98. 

Odoacer founds a barbaric kingdom in 
Italy, 31; overcome by Theodoric at 
Aquileia, 40. 

Otho I., surnamed the Lion (son of 
Henry the Fowler), his cliaracter, 82; 
his foreign wars, 84; crowned King 
of the Lombards; his victory over 
the Hungarians, 85; receives the im- 
perial crown from the Pope; end of 
his glorious career, 88. 

Otho II., surnamed the Red, his charac- 
ter; his army destroyed by Lothaire, 
king of France, 89 ; marches upon 
Paris, his disastrous retreat; defeated 
by the Greeks and Saracens, 90; dies 
of grie^ 91. 

Otho III., surnamed the Prodigy, his 
education and character, 92; his 
death, probably poisoned by Ste- 
phania, widow of Crescentius, 93. 

Otho IV. (son of Henry the Lion), 
chosen emperor by the Guelphic fac- 
tion, 131; to secure the support of 
Innocent III. he recognises in the 



342 



Pope the full power of bestowing the 
empire ; and after the assassination of 
Philip the rival emperor is crowned 
at Rome; marries a daughter of 
Philip in the hope of conciliating the 
Ghibellines; is driven out of Rome 
by the populace; the Pope sets up 
against him Frederick, son of Henry 
VI., and, on being formally deposed, 
retires to his duchy in North Ger- 
many, and there dies, 133. 

Otto the Illustrious, refuses the crown, 
76. 

Ottocar of Bohemia, possessor of the 
hereditary states of Austria as well 
as Bohemia, is placed under ban by 
' Eodolph of Hapsburg as a rebel; sur- 
renders Austria, Styria, Carinthia, 
and Carniola to the empire, 150: 
his bitter mortification and humilia- 
tion; he revolts, and is slain in battle 
near Marchefeld, 151. 

Oxenstiern, regent of Sweden, prose- 
cutes the war vigorously against Fer- 
dinand II. 

Paris, after a long siege, submits to 
the German forces, 309. 

Passau, the treaty of, its effeci on Pro- 
testantism, 215. [48. 

Pepin de Landen, mayor of the palace, 

Pepin d'Heristal, 48. 

Pepin the Short (son of Charles Mar- 
tel), sole major domus of France, 53; 
his wars and victories, 54; founder 
of the second or Carlovingian race 
of kings, 55. 

Peter, the Magyar king, restored to the 
rule of his country, as a fief, by the 
Emperor Henry III., 100. 

Philip of Hohenstaufen (uncle of Fre- 
derick, heir to Henry VI.), chosen 
emperor by a faction, whilst Otho, 
son of Henry the Lion, is also chosen 
by the Guelphic party and crowned 
at Aix-la-Chapelle, thus dividing the 
authority of the empire, 131. 

Philip the Handsome {le bel), king of 
France, claims the imperial crown, 
160. 

Philip (son of Maximilian I.), marries 
the Infanta Juanna of Spain, 193; 
Ferdinand of Aragon refuses to yield 
up to him the throne of Castile, 195; 
his mysterious death, 196. 

Piccolomini, the imperialist general, 
drives Banier out of Bohemia, 242. 

Poland, The first partition of, 260. 

Poles, The, summon to their aid 
against the Prussians, Hermann of 
Salza, Grand Master of the Teutonic 
Order, 136. 



Popes, The, origin of the temporal 
power of, 54; the prerogative ac- 
quired by them through the corona- 
tion of Charlemagne, 64. 

Procopius, the monk, leader of the 
Taborites, defeats the mercenaries of 
Sigismund, and ravages Austria and 
other states; vanquished in the battle 
of Prague, 178. 

Prussians, The Pagan, conquered and 
civilised by the Knights of the Teu- 
tonic Order, and Prussia becomes 
their possession, 136. 

Prussia rises into Germany, 297; ter- 
ritorial position of, before and after 
the war with Austria; her prepa- 
rations for war with France, 30(3; 
France declares war against her 
(1870), 307. 

RAsroN, Henry, landgrave of Thurin- 
gia, chosen Emperor in place of 
Frederick II., 140, 

Ravenna, exarchate of, its donation to 
the Pope by Pepin, 54. 

Reformation, commencement of the, 
198. 

Richelieu, Cardinal, subsidises Gusta- 
vus Adolphus to check Austria, 239, 

Roger, the Norman, of Naples, con- 
spires with Guelpli against Conrad 
III., 118. 

Rollo and the old pirate Hastings 
pillage Paris, 73. 

Roman empire divided between the 
two sons of Theodosius, 20. 

Roman France conquered by Teutonic 
France, 52. 

Romulus Angustulus dethroned by 
Odoacer, 31. 

Rodolph of Hapsburg, his character 
and career during the interregnum ; 
swears unconditional obedience to. 
Gregory X.; his coronation; begins 
his reign by purging Germany from 
internal disorder; suppresses the rob- 
ber chiefs and compels the homage 
of the great princes, 149; humbles 
the pride of Ottocar of Bohemia, 150; 
reduces all Austria as far as Vienna; 
founds the imperial dynasty of Aus- 
tria; cedes all the rights of the em- 
pire over the territories of the church , 
151; dies universally lamented; the 
tranquillity of his reign, his admir- 
able character as a sovereign, 152. 

Rodolph II. (son of MaximUian II.), 
the right of i^rimogeniture in the 
House of Austria established; his 
character, his attempts to curtail 
religious liberty, 228; dissensions of 
the Lutherans and (jalvinists; civil 



343 



dissensions ruin the trade of Ger- 
many, 230 ; his eccentricities and 
misgovernment; compelled to abdi- 
cate Bohemia, Silesia, and Lusatia, 
•231; his decease, 232. 

Kudolph III,, of Burgundy, present at 
coronation of Conrad II, at Kome; 
his treaty with Henry II, and its 
consequences, 97, 

Rupert, Count Palatine, elected Em- 
peror; crosses the Alps, is defeated 
by tlie Duke of Milan, and inglori- 
ously retraces his steps, 172; his un- 
expected death, 173, 

Russian influence in Germany, 298. 

Saladin, sultan of Egypt, defeats the 
Christians near Tiberius, 128. 

Salian Franks, their laws, 45. 

Salic Law, The, 4(3, 

Saxons, The, subdued and christianised 
by Charlemagne, 59, 

Schleswig-Holstein, the question of the 
duchies of, 295, 

Schweppermann, by his skill gains the 
battle of Mtthldoi-f, 1622, his reward 
of two eggs, 163. 

Segambri, they repel the attacks of 
Agrippa, 17. 

Segovesus, king of the Keltre, 16, 

Sens, its six months heroic defence 
against the Normans, 74. 

Seven WeeJcs' War, The, battles of 
Sadowa, Lissa, and Custozza, 305, 

Sigebert, king of Austrasia, seizes upon 
theterritories of his brother Chilperic, 
is assassinated by Fredegonde, 43, 

Sigismund, margrave of Brandenburg, 
(brother of Wenceslaus), succeeds to 
the throne of Hungary; elected Em- 
peror, his arrogant character, 173 ; 
summons a council to meet at Con- 
stance; his misconduct during the 
Council; the Bohemians oppose his 
succession, and it costs him a war of 
sixteen years to attain it, 176 ; suc- 
ceeds to the crown of Bohemia, 178; 
his farcical coronation at Rome; the 
nobility conspire against him, his 
death, 179, 

Sigismund, John, and the Turks, 225, 

Soliman the Magnificent invades Hun- 
gary, dies from anxietv and fatigue, 
226, 

Spinola ravages the Palatinate, 237. 

Stephen II. , Pope, crowns Pepin at St, 
Denis, 54. 

Stilicho invites Alaric to invade Italy, 
20, 

Strasburg Oath, The, 71. 

Suevic race, its localities, political 
system and mode of life, 11; con- 



founded with the people of Spain 
and Portugal, a.d. 585, 26. 

Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, placed in 
the pontificial chair by Henry 111., 
and takes the name of Clement II. 

Swiss War of Independence, The, 156. 

Swabia, The duke of (second son of 
Barbarossa), dies of the plague before 
Antioch, in his twentieth year, 129. 

TANCMAR.half-brothev of Otlio the Lion, 
revolts against him and is slain, S3. 

Tell, WiUiam, the Swiss patriot, 158. 

Theodobert, king of Austria, conquers 
the Greeks and Goths in Italy, 41. 

Theodobert II., king of Austria, 47. 

Theodoric erects the empire of the 
Ostrogoths, 40; arrests the career of 
Clovis, 41. 

Theophania, daughter of the Greek 
Emperor Nicephorous, marries Otho 
II., 88; governs the empire for her 
infant son, 91. 

Thierry (son of Clovis, and King of 
Metz), massacres the Thuringians, 39, 

Thierry II., his four sons assassinated, 
43; king of Burgundy, 47. 

Thierry III,, (last of the "Sluggard 
Kings ") nominally governs Austria 
and Neustria, 50. 

Thirty Years' War, the, 235; vicissi- 
tudes of, ended by the Peace of Weit- 
phalia, 244; its varied horrors, 246. 

Tiberius, intrigues with the Germans, 
17; guards the Rhine, IS. 

Tilly, Count (General of Ferdinand 
II.), completes the conquest of the 
Palatinate, 238; is killed at the pas- 
sage of the Lech, 239. 

Trajan defeats the Germans, 19. 

Trent, the Council of, 213, 

" Truce of God," The, organization and 
operation of, 98. 

Turenne, Marshal, gains the victory of 
Zummerhausen and invades Bavaria 
and Bohemia, 244. 

Urban III., Pope, dies on hearing of 
the defeat of the Christians by the 
Saracens, 128, 

Vandals, The, found a kingdom in 
Africa, 25. 

Varus, Quintilius, provokes the Ger- 
mans to rebellion by his extortions, 
17; his legions cut to pieces by Ar- 
minius, 18, 

Venetia surrendered by Austria to 
France, 305, 

Verdun, treaty of, repartition of Char- 
lemagne's empire, 71; the unity of 
Christian Europe dissolved by the 
treaty of, 72. 



544 



VersaiUes, treaty of (1871), 30f». 
Vitigis, king of the Ostrogoths, cedes 
Provence to the Franks, 41. 

■VVailenstein commands the army of 
Ferdinan d II . ; is secretjyassassiaated 
by the Emperor's orders, 240. 

War, the Eeligious, in France and 
Germany begins, 214. 

War of the Spanish Succession, 252. 

War of the Austrian Succession, 257; 
ended by the Peace of Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle, 259. 

War, the Seven Years', 259. 

Weimar, the Duke of Saxe, defeats the 
imperialists; his mysterious death, 
242. 

Weinsberg, Duke Guelph of, defeated 
by Conrad III. at, 115; the scene of 
theWeibertreue ".woman's fidelity," 
116. 

VV^enceslaus(sou of Charles IV.)sucoeeds 
to the throne; his vicious life and 
detestable character, 168; the Bohe- 
mians rise against liim and consign 
him to a dungeon for four months, 
169 ; divides the empire into four 
circles, 170; is deposed 171; is driven 
out of Prague aud dies in an apo- 
plectic fit, 177. 



Westphalia, the treaty of the Z,'«;/ of 
modern histoiy; its conditions, 248. 

Wicklifife, the Bohemians made ac- 
quainted with the writings of, by 
the marriage of Anna, sister of Wen- 
ceslaus,with Richard II. of England, 
171. 

William of Holland, his pretensions to 
the imperiaV throne, 142. 

William I., king of Prussia, made 
Emperor of the New German Em- 
pire, 311. 

Winkelried, his patriotism at Sem- 
pach, 171. 

Witenagemots (Councils of the Wise), 
the Anglo-Saxon, 47. 

Wittikind, the Saxon leader, long re- 
sists Charlemagne, 89. 

Wladislas, duke of Bohemia, obtains 
the title of King through his fidelity 
to Frederick Barbarossa, 119. 

Wurtembevg, the King of, denounces 
the insidious ambition of Prussia,298, 

Zapoli, John of. Palatine of Transyl- 
vania, 220. 

Ziska, leader of the Taborites, defeats 
Sigismund and captures Prague, 177. 

Zwentibold obtains the duchy of Bo- 
hemia from Aruulf, 74. 



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